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U.S. Would Nuke North Korea To Protect South Korea Says Deputy Defense Secretary

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Every military resource the US has, including nuclear arms, will be available to its ally South Korea in the confrontation with its northern neighbor, US Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter pledged in Seoul.

 

“We remain steadfast to our commitment to extended deterrence offered by the US nuclear umbrella,”Carter said after talks with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin.

 

Carter had an excellent round of consultations with senior members of Park’s new team, he told reporters during a briefing this afternoon, and in each meeting reconfirmed a steadfast commitment to the nearly 60-year-old alliance between the United States and South Korea.

 

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter addresses U.S. and South Korean forces assigned to the joint operations center of Command Post TANGO near Seoul, South Korea, March 18, 2013. Carter thanked the troops for their service and reminded them to thank their family members for the sacrifices they make in serving their countries. 

DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

 

“It’s safe to report that the relationship between the Park and Obama administrations is off to a very productive start,” he said. “My visit reflects the importance [Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel] and I attach to this alliance.”

 

Park, South Korea’s first woman president, was sworn in Feb. 25, less than two weeks after North Korean state media announced that the nation had conducted its third underground nuclear test since 2006. This and other provocations that are part of a continuing North Korean pattern were key topics in discussions today, Carter said, adding that such actions pose a serious threat to the United States, to South Korea and to regional stability.

 

“If the North Koreans think this kind of thing is going to get them anywhere, they’re mistaken,” the deputy secretary said. “The only effect it’s having is to bring down upon North Korea the opprobrium of the entire world.”

 

The United States is working with friends and allies around the world to employ an integrated response to these unacceptable provocations, Carter added.

 

The response includes United Nations Security Council resolutions with unprecedentedly strong sanctions against North Korea, and more unilateral sanctions of great effect, and the nation’s resulting progressive isolation, he said.

 

“In the military sphere, the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to the Republic of Korea,” the deputy defense secretary observed. “Together, we are taking important steps to advance the alliance military capabilities.”

 

In particular, the United States remains committed to extended deterrence offered by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, and to ensuring that all capabilities remain available to the alliance, he added.

 

For example, Carter noted the routine presence of strategic bombers taking part in flight training on the Korean Peninsula, adding that a B-52 flight will take place tomorrow. B-52s are long-range, strategic heavy bombers that can drop or launch the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory.

 

As Hagel announced March 15, the United States will strengthen its missile defenses and is determined to keep ahead of the progress of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile development, the deputy defense secretary said.

 

The annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises Key Resolve, ongoing until March 21, and Foal Eagle, a combined and joint field training exercise that runs across the Korean Peninsula from March 1 to April 30, “demonstrate the U.S. commitment to the alliance,” Carter said, “and ensure the readiness of both of our forces to defend the Republic of Korea and deepen interoperability with U.S. and South Korean forces.”

 

On this cool, hazy Monday morning in Seoul, Carter started his day with a visit to Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of U.S. Forces Korea. Afterward, he met with U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Sung Kim.

 

Carter then visited the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to meet with Minister Yun Byung-se.

 

The U.S. commitment to South Korea is very strong, Carter told Yun in remarks before the meeting.

 

“Our capabilities are very formidable — yours, ours and ours combined,” Carter said, clasping his hands together in illustration. “And as you know,” he added, “we have the full range of capabilities for both countries committed to the defense of South Korea. That has been true for decades, and it has not changed.”

 

Later, Carter traveled to the Blue House and met with Kim Jang-Soo at the National Security Office. The Blue House comprises the executive offices and official residence of the president. It translates to “pavilion of blue tiles” and is built in the Korean architectural tradition with modern elements.

 

Carter’s final meeting today was with Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin.

 

In addition to the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Carter and the South Korean officials discussed adding military capabilities to the alliance, continuing extended nuclear deterrence, and continuing the U.S. commitment to resource the Asia-Pacific rebalance, including the U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula.

 

During the afternoon news conference, Carter answered a question about potential effects of extreme Defense Department budget cuts — a process known as sequestration — on the U.S. commitment to South Korea. Specifically, he was asked whether the United States would ask South Korea for a larger contribution to U.S. efforts on the peninsula.

 

“The United States has not asked the Republic of Korea for funds associated with sequester,” the deputy defense secretary said, describing the process as a temporary budget turbulence imposed by the U.S. Congress that will last until Oct. 1.

 

“We will deal with that turmoil in a way that does not affect the Korean Peninsula. That’s the direction I’ve given,” he added, “and so operations and actions on the Korean Peninsula aren’t affected.”

 

Carter and his South Korean counterparts pledged close and continuing cooperation on these issues at senior levels of government.

 

After the news conference, Carter and Thurman toured Command Post TANGO — for theater air naval ground operations — a high-tech bunker 11 miles south of Seoul that serves as the Korean theater’s main warfighting headquarters.

 

There, Carter observed elements of the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, and thanked U.S and South Korean troops for their service and for keeping the world safe from harm.

 

Carter’s Asian visit will end tomorrow night after a stop in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he will hold bilateral meetings, attend a dinner with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Council of Permanent Representatives, and attend for the first time as deputy defense secretary the Jakarta International Defense Dialogue.

 

It isn’t just American capabilities in South Korea that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has to consider — capabilities based outside South Korea also figure in the strategic calculus, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

 

George Little

Credit: Defense Department

 

In a meeting with reporters, Little said B-52 bombers based at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, flew a mission over South Korea on March 8 as part of Exercise Foal Eagle.

 

B-52 Stratofortress bomber

Credit: Wikipedia

 

During a series of high-level meetings here, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter met with members of South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s new administration, and with U.S. military and diplomatic officials.

 

“It’s not any secret that we are in the midst of sending a very strong signal that we have a firm commitment to the alliance with our South Korean allies,” he added.

 

Little called this “a stepped-up training effort” to demonstrate American resolve to protect South Korea and to preserve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

 

The flight was not a one-of—a-kind exercise. The B-52 is part of U.S. Pacific Command’s Continuous Bomber Presence. The Foal Eagle mission highlights the extended deterrence and conventional capabilities of the B-52 Stratofortress, Little said, stressing that the B-52 is just one of the many capabilities the United States can call on to defend South Korea.

 

The bomber missions are routine and a literal symbol of American resolve in the Pacific, the press secretary said. “Despite challenges with fiscal constraints, training opportunities remain important to ensure U.S. and [South Korean] forces are battle-ready and trained to employ airpower to deter aggression, defend South Korea and defeat any attack against the alliance,” he added.

 

The bomber program is based in Guam, where Air Force strategic bombing units routinely deploy. The aircraft can perform a variety of missions, including carrying precision-guided conventional or nuclear ordnance.

 

More than 28,000 American service members are based in South Korea.

 

Here is a look at a nuclear explosion from the early days of U.S. Testing. 

 

 

 



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    Total 6 comments
    • Don't be hating!

      Yeah..No one is allowed to use any nuclear bombs on this planet.. Rememebr we are not the only ones who live in this dimension. They won’t allow it.

    • Buckworth Jackson

      Total horse poop, China uses the Norks as a ‘pitt bull chained to the back door’ …but because our fat women love shopping at Wal-Mart, :China has the upper hand :sad:

      • hangman

        Skinny women shop there also.

    • hangman

      If only our traitorous president would stand behind Israel, instead of his muslim brothers, part of the world problems would be non existent. If North Korea were , hypitathcly speaking, a muslim country, Obama would be out there right now on his knees apologizing for us offending g them in any way.

    • Anonymous

      If the U.S. does go to war against North Korea we would be stupid to use nukes. China is not going to just stand by and let us drop nukes and have the fallout spread to China. I think China is going to stop North Korea one way or another and not invade South Korea.

    • sjsrana

      ‘india’ boosting or just being BOISTEROUS?
      http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-a-worlds-first-india-test-fires-brahmos-missile-from-underwater-platform/1090896/

      with RANGE 300km….fooling around

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