President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol signed an agreement that will see the United States dock nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea for the first time in more than 40 years. The announcement of the agreement, dubbed the “Washington Declaration,” came as President Biden welcomed President Yoon for a state visit on Wednesday, April 26.
“Ladies and gentlemen I came here to look back to the 70-year-long history of our alliance and with President Biden the design, vision for our shared future,” Yoon said Wednesday. “I came there to celebrate and congratulate on the 70th anniversary of alliance with pride, with joy and with the American people.”
During the Cold War in the late 1970s, U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines made frequent port visits to South Korea. Wednesday’s announcement, meanwhile, reflects heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
“Our mutual defense treaty is ironclad, and that includes our commitment to extended deterrence,” Biden said Wednesday. “And that includes the nuclear threat and the nuclear deterrent. They’re particularly important in the face of DPRK’s increased threats and a blatant violation of U.S. sanctions.”
In addition to the submarine visits, the agreement also calls for U.S. and South Korean militaries to strengthen joint training and better integrate south Korean military assets into the countries’ joint strategic deterrence efforts.
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