MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Should US nuclear weapons be deployed in South Korea, unpleasant consequences will follow and Russia will be forced to bear this scenario in mind in its defense planning, as follows from the Russian Foreign Ministry’s answers to questions, received ahead of the news conference on Russian diplomacy in 2022. The answers were uploaded to the Foreign Ministry’s website on Monday.
"Particularly unpleasant consequences would follow should US nuclear weapons return to the South of the Korean Peninsula. This possibility has begun to be openly discussed in the Republic of Korea. Such a development would inevitably have to be taken into account in Russia’s defense planning. And, I think, China’s too," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
In early January, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol, in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, said that Seoul was negotiating with Washington a concept of joint planning and joint exercises in the field of nuclear weapons. However, US President Joe Biden said that the parties were not yet discussing the possibility of drawing US nuclear forces in joint exercises.
Later, the administration of the South Korean president replied that the two countries were holding consultations "on the exchange of information, joint planning and implementation of plans regarding the operation of US nuclear weapons in response to North Korea’s nuclear program." The South Korean presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye explained the US president's reaction by saying that the term "joint nuclear exercises" was a reference to nuclear countries. The Republic of Korea is not a member of the nuclear club.