Under the Washington Declaration, a security agreement unveiled by President Joe Biden and South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol at the White House in April, the U.S. agreed to periodically send nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea, while Seoul agreed to not develop its own nuclear weapons. The move aims to bolster cooperation in deterring threats from North Korea, which is developing and refining its nuclear arsenal. The agreement was announced amid rising calls in South Korea for the country to pursue its own atomic arms program in the face of doubts about U.S. nuclear guarantees under the 70-year-old bilateral alliance.
