South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol hailed a new U.S.-ROK platform for discussing nuclear deterrence against North Korean threats on Tuesday as “more effective” than NATO’s analog for nuclear sharing, though experts say the two mechanisms cannot be compared as they are designed for different roles. 

Yoon made the comments in his first cabinet meeting since agreeing to establish the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) in a summit with U.S. counterpart Joe Biden last week. The Washington Declaration released after the summit, he said, “upgraded” the alliance to “a new paradigm based on nuclear weapons.”