U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to agree with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday to bolster extended deterrence measures in response to North Korea's growing nuclear threat.
Biden and Yoon, who arrived in Washington on Monday for a state visit, will release a joint statement designed to reinforce U.S. security commitments, including shielding allies under its nuclear umbrella, according to senior U.S. administration officials.
Another reason for agreeing on what they called the "Washington declaration" is to improve the clarity of what it means by extended deterrence and at the same time reaffirm South Korea's commitment to its non-nuclear status.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States will take steps to make its extended deterrence policy "more visible" by regularly deploying strategic assets, such as a nuclear ballistic submarine visit to South Korea, something that has not taken place since the early 1980s.
While continuing to enhance their military training, the leaders are set to also agree on the creation of a peacetime nuclear consultative group.
The officials said the new mechanism will give Seoul additional insight into how Washington thinks about planning for major contingencies and will give it a voice in those deliberations.
They suggested that the declaration, which was discussed "for months," is aimed at providing better deterrence against North Korea and will help to quell persistent calls in South Korea for nuclear armament.
Yoon's visit, which marks the 70th anniversary of the two countries' security alliance, comes as he seeks to boost cooperation with the United States and Japan to deal with tough economic and security challenges.
Amid China's increasing economic influence, South Korean officials have said that Yoon also hopes to lay the groundwork to ensure more secure supply chains for semiconductors and other vital industrial materials, during the first state visit to the United States by a South Korean leader since 2011.
The U.S. officials said they expect Biden "in both private conversations and publicly" to endorse Yoon's push to build stronger ties with Japan after many years of tension between the two Asian countries over issues related to historical disputes.
The summit was held just a day after Biden formally announced his bid for re-election in 2024. The 80-year-old president has repeatedly expressed his desire to ramp up trilateral cooperation for maintaining stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
One of the officials said he has a "long-standing interest in seeing better relations between the two countries" -- Washington's key security allies in the region.
Yoon, who took office last May, is due to deliver a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Thursday.
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