South Korean Navy soldiers welcome the US nuclear-powered submarine USS Annapolis to Jeju Island in July 2023. (Source: Reuters)

Last week, South Korea and the United States signed the “Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula” on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Washington.

Yonhap news agency quoted President Yoon Suk Yeol as saying at a cabinet meeting on July 16 that the US will “assign a special mission to nuclear platforms on the Korean Peninsula in both wartime and peacetime.”

In addition, Washington and Seoul “established a posture to respond quickly and effectively to any type of North Korean nuclear threat.”

The signing of the guidelines is the result of efforts by the bilateral Nuclear Advisory Group to ensure Washington's "extended deterrence" commitments to Seoul, which include the US mobilizing the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend its ally.

Earlier, on July 13, North Korea condemned the guidelines signed by the US and South Korea as a "reckless provocation" and threatened that Washington and Seoul would pay "an unimaginable price" if they continued to provoke.

According to North Korea, the move by the two allies is a “deep-seated threat to regional security” and forces Pyongyang to “further improve its nuclear deterrence readiness and add important elements to the composition of the deterrence force.”