Deterrence on NK, economic security top summit agenda

Yoon, Biden seek to reiterate alliance, expand economic partnership

The deterrence on nuclear threats from North Korea and strengthening economic security will top the agenda at the upcoming summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden, according to Seoul’s presidential office, Thursday.

The two leaders will sit together for a summit on Saturday afternoon, with Biden visiting Seoul’s new presidential office in Yongsan District. The U.S. leader is scheduled to arrive here Friday afternoon.

The meeting will focus mostly on confirming that the allies are on the same page on two agenda items. Kim Taehyo, first deputy director of the Office of National Security, said the two countries “are reaching a stage of completion” on most debatable agenda items.

Of those, the top priority will be placed on the security of the Korean Peninsula and threats posed by North Korea.

“To discuss economic security, climate change or other issues, we must guarantee that we can protect the lives of our people,” Kim said. “So the top priority in the summit will be about coming up with action plans on how the allies can strengthen the extended deterrence clearly and effectively.”

Extended deterrence refers to the ability of U.S. military forces to deter nuclear threats against its allies.

Yoon, who was elected on March 9, has been stressing a stronger South Korea-U.S. deterrence as the most effective tool in countering North Korea’s escalating missile and nuclear threats.

Based on this principle, the “normalization” of Seoul-Washington joint military exercises and the deployment of the U.S. strategic assets on South Korean soil could be discussed at the summit.

During the previous Moon Jae-in administration, the joint military exercises between the South Korean military and U.S. Forces Korea have been scaled down with most field training exercises having been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Moon’s Korean Peninsula peace initiative.

In April, Yoon said in an interview that those drills would resume as early as this fall in order to improve Seoul’s deterrence against Pyongyang, and he would consult with the U.S. over the timeframe of holding those drills.

Deploying the U.S. strategic assets on the Korean peninsula is also expected to be on the table of discussions. During a phone call between Seoul’s new defense minister Lee Jongsup and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, Wednesday, Lee stressed the importance of the deployment of the U.S. strategic assets on the peninsula, in order to send warnings against the North’s nuclear threats and show off the allies’ combat readiness.

Watchers expect long-range bombers such as the B-52H, the B-1B, and the B-2 as possible U.S. strategic assets that can be deployed.

“In terms of the U.S. strategic assets, some assets can be mobilized immediately and others will take weeks for deployment. And we are considering both of them,” Kim said.

Among the summit agenda items, talks over economic security are also expected to gain attention.

According to the presidential office, the concept is emerging in the wake of recent global supply chain instability, and is aimed at forming industrial alliances in order to prevent potential disruptions in a country’s supply side.