Yoon Seok-yeol “NATO responds to North Korea’s nuclear weapons” Biden “opposes Ukraine’s NATO membership”
While President Yoon Seok-yeol called for “NATO to deal with North Korea’s nuclear and weapons expansion,” US President Biden announced “opposition to Ukraine’s NATO membership” prior to the NATO Summit.
"Now is the time to clearly demonstrate that the international community's determination to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons program is stronger than the North's desire to develop nuclear weapons," President Yoon told The Associated Press.
Reuters reported that President Yoon told the Associated Press that it was time to show that "the international community's resolve to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons program is stronger than North Korea's desire to develop nuclear weapons."
Regarding his attendance at the NATO summit, President Yoon told the Associated Press, "I will say it is time to clearly demonstrate a strong international resolve to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and plan to discuss with NATO leaders this week how to deal with North Korea's growing arms arsenal." answered in writing.
In a CNN interview about the NATO Summit, US President Biden said, “We urge Ukraine to pay attention to NATO membership for the time being, and NATO’s mutual defense agreement could lead the alliance to become embroiled in a war with Russia.”
President Biden continued, "I don't think there is unanimity in NATO on whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family at this moment during the war," Reuters reported on the 9th, de facto opposition to joining NATO.
In an AP written briefing on attending the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, President Yoon said South Korea would attend the NATO meeting to emphasize the importance of international cooperation against "North Korea's illegal activities" in 11 areas, including non-proliferation and cybersecurity. It was announced that a new 'NATO-Korea' document would come into effect at the summit to institutionalize cooperation.
The Associated Press reported, “The North Korean Ministry of Defense warned on the 10th that the deployment of US submarines could trigger ‘actually the worst nuclear conflict crisis’, threatened to shoot down a US reconnaissance aircraft, and the South Korean military countered that it was prepared to repel any potential North Korean provocations.” "President Yoon's discussions with NATO leaders about North Korea could trigger a backlash from North Korea, saying that increased cooperation between NATO and US allies in Asia is in the process of creating an 'Asian version of NATO' that will heighten regional hostilities," the report said. did.
President Yoon said, “Just as the incident in Europe can have a real and significant impact on the Indo-Pacific region, the Indo-Pacific incident can have a huge impact on European countries.” It reminded us all that the crisis could affect the world."
North Korea's Korean Central News Agency said the US move to introduce strategic nuclear assets to the Korean Peninsula is "the most blatant nuclear threat" to North Korea and regional countries and poses a grave threat to peace. It depends on the future actions of the United States, and if a sudden situation arises ... the United States will take full responsibility for it," Reuters reported on the 10th.
"There is no guarantee that a shocking incident like the downing of a US Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft in the waters east of South Korea will not happen," Reuters reported.
Reuters said North Korea on Thursday accused the US of infringing its airspace through surveillance flights and warned that such flights could be shot down while Pyongyang exercises self-restraint. An anonymous spokesman for North Korea's Ministry of National Defense reported in a statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The North Korean statement referred to the use of US reconnaissance planes and drones and said the US was escalating tensions by sending nuclear submarines near the Korean Peninsula.
USFK did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Reuters reported that "the South Korean military said that North Korea's claim of airspace intrusion was untrue" and that South Korea's "U.S. air surveillance assets are conducting routine reconnaissance flights around the Korean Peninsula, and allies are working closely to monitor North Korea." ”, it was reported.
In a regular briefing on the 6th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said of the Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), “China expresses concern about this issue. The essence of the Korean peninsula issue is a political and security issue,” he said.