[INTERVIEW] 'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula'

Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Seoul's foreign minister seeks effective solutions on NK, IRA issues at meeting with Blinken

By Kang Seung-woo

South Korea is seeking stronger assurances from the United States that it will provide "effective" extended deterrence, which Seoul's foreign minister believes is the "best practical option" for deterring North Korea's evolving threats and ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"It is important to strengthen the U.S. extended deterrence in defending South Korea against North Korea's escalating nuclear threats to ease public concerns over the North's hostility," Foreign Minister Park Jin said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday, one day ahead of his departure for the U.S., where he plans to hold a meeting with U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken, Friday (local time).

"To this end, it is necessary to establish a mechanism for a more tangible U.S. extended nuclear deterrence and I intend to discuss the issue with State Secretary Blinken."

Extended deterrence refers to the commitment to use a full range of capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to deter attacks on allies. The U.S. has provided extended deterrence, also known as the nuclear umbrella, to South Korea since 1991. That is the year when the U.S. removed all of its nuclear assets from the Korean Peninsula.

However, the modernization of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs has prompted many South Koreans to question Washington's extended deterrence commitments to Seoul. Such mounting skepticism has also raised calls for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons.

Park, also a four-term lawmaker, said it has been a basic premise that the U.S. offers the nuclear umbrella as a means of extended deterrence and it is now necessary to discuss with the U.S. how to ensure the activation of that extended deterrence.

US reaffirms nuclear security assurances to South Korea

2023-02-04 10:35 | Health & Science

US remains committed to using full range of capabilities to defend S. Korea: Blinken

2023-02-04 07:09 | Foreign Affairs

Q/AROK-US alliance evolves into global strategic partnership

2023-02-02 17:28 | Foreign Affairs

FM Park discusses ways to enhance alliance with US lawmakers, former ambassadors

2023-02-03 09:59 | Foreign Affairs

"We need to discuss with the U.S. the execution of extended deterrence in the event of an emergency in more detail," he said.

"In that respect, it is an urgent task for South Korea and the U.S. to develop a mechanism on how the U.S. extended deterrence will be implemented in close coordination with us."

His remarks came amid increasing public opinion in favor of arming South Korea with its own nuclear weapons to counter growing security threats from North Korea.

A survey by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies showed 60.7 percent of South Koreans believing their country is somewhat in need of developing its own nuclear weapons, while 15.9 percent said it is very much in need.

"I think that the survey result reflects the public's concerns over North Korea's growing threats. However, South Korea is a bona fide member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and observing it is our duty," Park said.

"In addition, given that we have been seeking the denuclearization of North Korea, the best practical option to deter North Korea's threat and ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula is to seek enhanced U.S. nuclear umbrella assurances against North Korea."

North Korea is believed to have fully prepared for a seventh nuclear test, raising speculation that denuclearizing the North is an unfeasible scenario.

"I think it is not likely for North Korea to renounce its nuclear weapons voluntarily, so it is important to create an environment that will compel the North to give up its nuclear ambitions," Park said, adding that the right environment would deter the North's nuclear threats, dissuade its nuclear development and seek dialogue and diplomacy with the North.

"In this regard, we need to strengthen our alliance with the U.S. and trilateral cooperation with the U.S. and Japan, while delivering a firm and unified message from the international community."

In a related move, the 66-year-old foreign minister held a separate meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and ambassadors of U.N. Security Council member nations in New York, Wednesday (local time).

"We need to enhance diplomacy with the U.N. as part of efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and other security matters relating to the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific," Park said.

Foreign Minister Park Jin, right, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their talks in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 5, 2022. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

During his meeting with Blinken, Park also plans to discuss summit diplomacy between President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden and other pending issues, such as the U.S. extended deterrence, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and supply chain disruptions. Yoon and Biden held a summit last May, only 10 days after the South Korean president took office.

Some clauses in the IRA exclude electric vehicles built outside North America from tax credits, with South Korean carmakers Hyundai and Kia likely to fall victim to the act.

Plus, during his four-day visit to the U.S., the minister is scheduled to meet with top officials at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to discuss bilateral space cooperation.

"The South Korea-U.S. alliance has been expanding to the space area, so I will meet NASA officials to discuss mutual space cooperation," Park said, adding that the two countries are in talks over holding a forum on space.