U.S. considered Korean Peninsula risks in nuclear posture review

WASHINGTON, May 9 Kyodo -
U.S. President Barack Obama stopped short of declaring deterrence against a
nuclear strike as the ''sole objective'' of the United States' possession of
nuclear weapons amid concern about contingencies in the Korean Peninsula and
the weakening of the nuclear umbrella provided to Japan and other countries, a
high-ranking U.S. government official and other diplomatic sources said
recently.
With Obama pushing for a nuclear-free world, attention had been focused on
whether the United States would limit the role of its nuclear weapons to
deterrence when he released the Nuclear Posture Review Report in April. But the
policy shift was not achieved out of consideration for key allies, including
Japan and South Korea, the sources said.
Inclusion of the ''sole objective'' policy would have led to the reversal of
the U.S. first-strike strategy, restricting the use of nuclear weapons to when
an adversary launches a nuclear attack on the country.
The policy shift was also difficult due to opposition from Britain and France,
which apparently feared that a change in U.S. policy would weaken their
justification for holding on to nuclear weapons.
According to the U.S. government official and other sources, members of the
Obama administration discussed the possibility of declaring the ''sole
objective'' policy but failed to secure enough support.
During the discussions, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and
other officials argued that the United States should retain its first-strike
policy to prevent a sudden attack on South Korea by North Korea, they added.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also opposed a policy shift in view of the
need to retain the option of nuclear retaliation in the event that countries
such as North Korea launch an attack using biological weapons.
==Kyodo