Seoul, January 30 (QNA) - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday highlighted the importance of the United States' extended deterrence for South Korea, saying it has an "extremely important task" amid Pyongyang's growing nuclear threats.
"I think it's important to understand that what we call extended deterrence, meaning that NATO allies and also some NATO partners, like South Korea, they don't have their own nuclear weapons but are covered by the nuclear deterrence that the United States provides.
That is where to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons," Stoltenberg made the remarks during an event in Seoul hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies.
He also stressed NATO will "remain a nuclear alliance" as long as nuclear weapons exist, saying the world will be more dangerous if NATO allies, including the US and France, get rid of their nuclear weapons amid nuclear threats, according to South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap).
"So we think that as long as nuclear weapons exist, then nuclear deterrence still has an extremely important task to fulfill," he said.
Stoltenberg arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day visit and is set to depart for Japan later in the day. (QNA)