Korea-U.S. Defense ‘nuclear tabletop exercise’ issue ‘expansion of military exercises and strengthening of nuclear deterrence’ agreement

The South Korean and U.S. defense ministers agreed to “expand military exercises and strengthen nuclear deterrence plans” on the issue of “South Korea nuclear tabletop exercises.”
The meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries ended on the 31st with an agreement to "expand military exercises and strengthen nuclear deterrence plans to respond to North Korea's weapons development and prevent war."
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Korea the day before and after a meeting with Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop, the joint statement was "agreement to share information and strengthen joint plans", expand the "level and scale" of the ROK-US joint military exercises this year, and "promote the US-like aircraft carriers and bombers". of strategic assets” was announced.
Prior to his visit to Korea, Secretary Austin wrote an unusually special contribution to Yonhap News, saying, "The visit deepens cooperation to address common security challenges and reaffirms the US's commitment to deter the expansion of the ROK as 'iron' at a time when tensions and provocations are rising." “This is why the United States and South Korea are taking clear and meaningful steps to modernize and strengthen their alliance,” he announced on the 31st with the initials of South Korea, the official name of the Republic of Korea.
"I look forward to meeting with the ROK Secretary of Defense and other senior government leaders to chart an ambitious path to advance our common security priorities in the Indo-Pacific," Austin tweeted shortly before arriving.
Bruce Bennett, a senior researcher at the US Conservative Land Corporation, revealed “a plan to strengthen the implementation of extended deterrence” prior to the agenda of the ROK-US defense ministers meeting, and “President Seok-Yeol Yoon made it clear that Korea needs a more accurate explanation of US extended deterrence. The time when South Korea blindly accepted the (US) nuclear umbrella as a deterrent has passed,” he told Voice of America (VOA). said on the 27th.
In an editorial on the 31st, China's Global Times said, “NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg mentioned the nuclear threat from North Korea, China, and Russia and said that he would strengthen sharing related information with South Korea, which draws South Korea into NATO and uses 'nuclear sharing' as an excuse to NATO. It is to expand the tentacles of Northeast Asia to Northeast Asia,” he said. “There are some analyzes coming out of Korea that NATO intends to respond to the United States and expand its activities to the Indo-Pacific region to contain China.” Reported.
The Global Times continued, “NATO insisted that the nature of their regional defense alliance remains unchanged, but since last year, it has been strengthening military-security ties with countries such as South Korea and Japan.” Stepping on the ground in the region and exaggerating the nuclear threat shows that NATO has already become a serious threat to the region."
Earlier, at a press conference on the 11th, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop said, "We plan to conduct a tabletop exercise among defense officials in February on the operation of extended deterrence measures in accordance with North Korea's nuclear attack scenario."
Lee went on to say that the ROK and US forces will conduct their first separate tabletop exercise in May, which will be "much more specific and substantive" than the February program for policy makers.

In a lecture in Seoul on the 30th, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg, who was Prime Minister of Norway, said of the "urgent necessity" of ammunition support for the war in Ukraine, and seems to have suggested 'providing nuclear information' with NATO as bait. <NATO Secretary-General to Korea See “Ukrainian Ammunition Assistance,” dated 30 January 2023>