South Korea, US to Agree on Creation of NATO-Like Nuclear Consultative Group

© AP Photo / Susan WalshVice President Kamala Harris, right, speaks as South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, listens during a visit to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
Vice President Kamala Harris, right, speaks as South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, listens during a visit to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Tuesday, April 25, 2023. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 26.04.2023
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) – South Korea and the United States will agree on the creation of a joint consultative group on nuclear arms modeled after the NATO Nuclear Planning Group to increase Washington's efforts to help its ally tackle the threat from North Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean presidential office.
The two countries are expected to adopt on Wednesday the statement dubbed the Washington Declaration, in which the US will vow to strengthen its commitment to "extended deterrence" to counter the threat from North Korea and mobilize a wide range of its military capabilities, including the nuclear ones, to defend its ally, the report read.
The declaration will call for the establishment of a joint nuclear consultation group between South Korea and the United States, which will be similar in its functions to the NATO Nuclear Planning Group, according to the news agency.
"Through this, we expect the extended deterrence mechanism that covers information-sharing, joint planning and joint execution to operate more organically," South Korean presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon told reporters, as quoted by Yonhap.
Apart from that, South Korean companies and the United States have concluded 23 memorandums of understanding (MoU) in Washington in the field of cutting-edge technologies and renewable energy, with 10 of them in biotechnology, aviation, robotics, autonomous driving and other fields, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Wednesday.
"A total of 23 MoU have been signed, with 10 of them in the fields of advanced technologies, such as battery production, biotechnology, autonomous driving, aviation, robotics, and 13 more on cooperation in the clean energy sector, including hydrogen, nuclear energy, and carbon neutrality," the ministry said in a statement.
The agreements have been signed between South Korean companies Doosan, SK, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Lotte Chemical and US's Boeing, GE Vernova, ExxonMobil and others, as well as Germany's Siemens, the document read.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated that a possible conflict of interests and other issues against the backdrop of reports alleging the wiretapping of South Korean officials by US intelligence services would not undermine the Seoul-Washington alliance, adding that such moves were not prohibited "in real state affairs."
the Pentagon building in Washington, DC. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 10.04.2023
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