SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea threatened Saturday to boost its nuclear fighting capability and make the US and South Korea pay “an unimaginably harsh price” as it slammed its rivals’ new defense guidelines that it says reveal an intention to invade the North.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol authorized the signing of joint nuclear deterrence guidelines as part of efforts to enhance their capabilities to cope with North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal. The guidelines were adopted a year after the two countries established a consultation body to bolster information-sharing on nuclear operations and discuss how to integrate US nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons in contingencies.
In a statement carried by state media, North Korea’s Defense Ministry said the US-South Korea guidelines betrayed “their sinister intention to step up their preparations for a nuclear war against” North Korea.
The statement said its enemies’ escalating nuclear threats urgently require North Korea to further improve its nuclear deterrent readiness and add unspecified “important elements to the composition of the deterrent.” It said the US and South Korea will “pay an unimaginably harsh price” if they fail to stop provocative acts.
Details of the US-South Korean guidelines weren’t available, but experts say they are largely about how the two countries would integrate US nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons to respond to various potential contingencies caused by North Korean attacks and provocations. Experts say the US and South Korea are expected to map out detailed concept and operation plans based on the guidelines and review them via bilateral military exercises.
The guidelines are the first of kind between the allies. The US has repeatedly promised to use all its military capabilities to protect South Korea if it is attacked by North Korea, but many experts in South Korea believe the US lacks plans on how it would implement its extended deterrence to its ally. South Korea has no nuclear weapons.
North Korea has argued it was forced to pursue nuclear weapons to deal with US-led nuclear threats. US and South Korean officials have steadfastly said they have no intention of attacking North Korea.
Concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program have grown in recent years as the North has performed a slew of provocative missile tests and openly threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively in potential conflicts with its adversaries.
North Korea threatens to boost nuke capability in reaction to US-South Korea deterrence guidelines
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North Korea threatens to boost nuke capability in reaction to US-South Korea deterrence guidelines
- The US has repeatedly promised to use all its military capabilities to protect South Korea if it is attacked by North Korea
- North Korea has argued it was forced to pursue nuclear weapons to deal with US-led nuclear threats
Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners
Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners
- Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks.
- The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video
KYIV: Ukraine is expected to hand its latest peace proposals to US negotiators Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.
As tension builds around US President Donald Trump’s push for a settlement and calls for an election in Ukraine, Zelensky said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered.
Washington’s goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting that followed Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022 is reducing Kyiv’s room for maneuvering. Zelensky is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Trump he is willing to make some compromises.
Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks.
The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video. Zelensky said it would include those countries’ leaders.
“We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And it’s not easy, but nevertheless we will do it,” he said late Tuesday.
Zelensky’s openness to an election was a response to comments by Trump in which he questioned Ukraine’s democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to stand before voters. Those comments echo similar remarks often made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky told reporters late Tuesday he is “ready” for an election but would need help from the US and possibly Europe to ensure its security. He suggested Ukraine could be ready to hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.
“To hold elections, two issues must be addressed: primarily, security — how to conduct them, how to do it under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military — how they would vote,” Zelensky said.
“And the second issue is the legislative framework required to ensure the legitimacy of elections,” he said.
Previously, Zelensky had pointed out that a ballot can’t legally take place while martial law — imposed due to Russia’s invasion — is in place. He has also asked how a vote could happen when civilian areas of Ukraine are being bombarded by Russia and almost 20 percent of the country is under Moscow’s occupation.
Zelensky said he has asked lawmakers from his party to draw up legislative proposals allowing for an election while Ukraine is under martial law.
Ukrainians have on the whole supported Zelensky’s arguments, and have not clamored for an election. Under the law that is in force, Zelensky’s rule is legitimate.
Putin has repeatedly complained that Zelensky can’t legitimately negotiate a peace settlement because his five-year term that began in 2019 has expired.
US seeks closer ties with Russia
A new US national security strategy released Dec. 5 made it clear that Trump wants to improve Washington’s relationship with Moscow and “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”
The document also portrays European allies as weak.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Trump’s role in the Ukraine peace effort, saying in a speech to the upper house of parliament that Moscow appreciates his “commitment to dialogue.” Trump, Lavrov said, is “the only Western leader” who shows “an understanding of the reasons that made war in Ukraine inevitable.”
Trump’s peace efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
The initial US proposal was heavily slanted toward Russia’s demands. To counter that, Zelensky has turned to his European supporters.
Zelensky met this week with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London, the heads of NATO and the European Union in Brussels, and then to Rome to meet the Italian premier and Pope Leo XIV.
Zelensky said three documents were being discussed with American and European partners — a 20-point framework document that is constantly changing, a document on security guarantees, and a document about Ukraine’s recovery.
Military aid for Ukraine declines
Europe’s support is uneven, however, and that has meant a decrease in military aid since the Trump administration this year cut off supplies to Kyiv unless they were paid for by other NATO countries.
Foreign military help for Ukraine fell sharply over the summer, and that trend continued through September and October, a German body that tracks international help for Ukraine said Wednesday.
Average annual aid, mostly provided by the US and Europe, was about 41.6 euros billion ($48.4 billion) between 2022–24. But so far this year Ukraine has received just 32.5 billion euros ($37.8 billion), the Kiel Institute said.
“If this slower pace continues in the remaining months (of the year), 2025 will become the year with the lowest level of new aid allocations” since the war began, it said.
This year, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have substantially increased their help for Ukraine, while Germany nearly tripled its average monthly allocations and France and the UK both more than doubled their contributions, the Kiel Institute said.
On the other hand, it said, Spain recorded no new military aid for Kyiv in 2025 while Italy reduced its low contributions by 15 percent compared with 2022–2024.
