| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| U.S. to Give Written Pledge on Nuclear Umbrella |
| 2009-06-02 |
| At a summit in Washington on June 16, the U.S. will apparently give South Korea a written pledge about its protective nuclear umbrella. The pledge has been reaffirmed through several statements issued by the annual Security Consultative Meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries. But the written pledge at a summit has a special weight. The U.S. apparently decided to make the commitment after North Korea's nuclear test last week and in light of calls here for South Korea to develop its own nuclear arms in response. What exactly the nuclear umbrella is has not been revealed. The two countries used the term in the joint statement they issued after each SCM meeting, but replaced it with a new term, "extended deterrence," in October 2006, which apparently means the same thing. Strategic nuclear weapons with a megaton capacity could theoretically be included in the nuclear umbrella, but it is more likely to consist of tactical nuclear weapons with a capacity of 100 to 200 kilotons or less since the two Koreas are adjacent, experts speculate. According to a U.S. report for 2002, the U.S. has a total of 1,620 tactical nuclear weapons -- 1,300 B-61 nuclear bombs that can be carried by B-2 stealth bombers, B-52 bombers, or F-15E, F-16 and FA-18 fighters; and 320 Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be launched from Los Angeles-class attack nuclear-powered submarines. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 "The fools bought it!... I mean, we have an agreement!" |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-06-02 16:31 |
| #6 But the written pledge at a summit has a special weight. Yeah, I figure if the rubber ever meets the road, this is worth about as much as a UN "deep concern" letter. Especially with Barry in charge. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-06-02 11:43 |
| #5 That was a weak excuse considering Pakistani sponsorship of every major terrorist act and group and it's 1-stop selling of uranium enrichment equipment and Chinese nuclear bomb designs. Instead the Pakis get tens of billion of dollars in US jizya. North Korea should have been in designated the |
| Posted by: ed 2009-06-02 08:36 |
| #4 The rationale for including the Norks in the "axis of evil" was their providing technological assistance to other rogue states in developing nuclear and missile programs (e.g., Iran and Syria). |
| Posted by: Spot 2009-06-02 08:24 |
| #3 And five bucks (for a cuppa coffee)? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-06-02 06:12 |
| #2 DEFENSETECH.org > [US BMA Director]NORKNUKE RAISES PERSIAN/IRAN THREAT. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-06-02 03:11 |
| #1 And the Japanese media is somewhat sympathetic to allowing placement of nuclear tipped US missiles in their theater. That is unlikely, but a local deterent is popular. Frankly, the NKs shouldn't have been labeled as part of some "axis of evil," unless real moves were being made against same. Kim was able to point to a military threat, while the "evil" concept was pure rhetoric, that reflected nothing practical. |
| Posted by: Uloluns Scourge of the Bunions1692 2009-06-02 02:41 |