Yoon is first Korean president to give address at Harvard

President Yoon Suk Yeol said that he believes the Washington Declaration strengthening U.S. extended deterrence commitments may be "more effective" than NATO's multilateral nuclear sharing arrangement with the United States in a forum at Harvard.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, speaks during a talk event with Joseph Nye, professor emeritus at Harvard University, at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge on Friday. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol said he believes the Washington Declaration strengthening the U.S. extended deterrence commitments may be "more effective" than NATO's multilateral nuclear sharing arrangement with the United States.

"I believe that what we have agreed to in our Washington Declaration is not an option, but an inevitable decision for facing the North Korean nuclear threat," Yoon said during a forum at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday. "I also believe the Washington Declaration does not only contain the responsibilities of the United States, but it also includes some duties for South Korea."

This includes South Korea not seeking its own nuclear armaments.

In their summit on Wednesday, Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden announced the Washington Declaration aimed at strengthening extended deterrence and establishing a new Nuclear Consultative Group. In turn, Yoon reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The topic came up during a forum where Yoon held a discussion on alliance matters with American political scientist Joseph Nye, professor emeritus at Harvard University and former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs during the Bill Clinton administration.

"To compare the U.S. extended deterrence with NATO's nuclear sharing, the concept of nuclear deterrence really emerged after NATO's nuclear sharing arrangement," Yoon said. "However, in some aspects, since the U.S. extended deterrence is a one-on-one agreement, we have better effectiveness than a multilateral format like NATO 's nuclear sharing agreement."

He acknowledged there is public opinion in South Korea calling for its own nuclear arsenal and that the country has the technology to do so.

"However, obtaining nuclear weapons is not just about technology," Yoon said. "It is about complex politics and economics."

Yoon noted that the North Korean nuclear threat "is imminent, at our front door, and therefore we need a practical solution."

"We are in a situation where there is no choice but to upgrade our Mutual Defense Treaty of 1953 based on conventional weapons in the past to the concept of mutual defense between South Korea and the United States, which now includes nuclear capabilities," Yoon added.

He said he has a "firm belief in the sustainability" of the Washington Declaration.

Ahead of taking questions from the audience, Yoon delivered an address, titled "Pioneering New Freedom Trail," becoming the first Korean president to do so at the university.

On Friday, Yoon met with a group of academics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to discuss cooperation on digital and bio technologies.

He also took part in the Korea-U.S. Cluster Round Table and discussed cooperation in cutting-edge industry clusters.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]