Last week, the United States and South Korea issued a very important joint statement as a result of meetings between Presidents Yoon and Biden. The statement has come to be known as the “Washington Declaration.”

The document is important because it outlines the initiatives that the United States and South Korea will conduct in order to continue to ensure extended deterrence for our important ally in Asia in the case of nuclear weapons use by the North Koreans. It also outlines important new actions Washington and Seoul will take to ensure North Korea is deterred from ever using nuclear weapons in a conflict.

This document and the talks surrounding it became necessary because of North Korea’s recent actions to enhance and enlarge its nuclear weapons program and the key platforms that carry those weapons – ballistic missiles. For a good example of why this is so important, one has only to turn to the recent successful ballistic missile test launch of what the North Koreans call the “Hwasong-18,” Pyongyang’s first solid fuel ICBM, and a missile most analysts assess to be capable of hitting the continental United States.