South Korea, US set for new collaboration to deter North's nuclear threat

President Joe Biden and South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol are expected to agree on Wednesday to deepen collaboration meant to deter nuclear escalation by North Korea amid heightened anxiety about its growing arsenal of missiles and bombs, U.S. officials said.

Besides the pomp and pageantry the White House has scheduled, the two allies are using the first formal state visit by a South Korean leader in more than a decade to send a warning to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two are expected to agree on a new "Washington Declaration" that U.S. officials say will give South Korea detailed insights into, and a voice in, U.S. contingency planning to deter and respond to any nuclear incident in the region through a U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group. The Republic of Korea is South Korea's official name.

While the allies will affirm that diplomacy with North Korea is the best solution, Washington will announce that it will deploy imposing military technology, including a ballistic-missile submarine to South Korea in a show of force, senior U.S. administration officials told reporters in a briefing call. It will the first such submarine visit since the 1980s, they said.