US extended deterrence

Abstract: The 2023 Washington Declaration strengthened the US-ROK alliance, thereby temporarily quelling public opinion favoring Seoul’s nuclear-arming. However, it has failed to reduce South Koreans’ doubts about the credibility of US security commitments over extended deterrence. The goal of this article is to examine whether US extended deterrence for South Korea is still effective in deterring North Korea’s growing nuclear threats. The central thesis of this article is that the United States should abandon its policy of extended deterrence for Seoul against a nuclear-capable North Korea and boldly explore a new strategy to keep stability and peace in Northeast Asia and maintain global nonproliferation regimes for the foreseeable future. The controlled and limited proliferation to South Korea seems to be a prime alternative, as it would allow the United States to minimize damages to both its policy of extended deterrence around the world and its objective of global nonproliferation.