Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Tackling the threat: On the U.S.-South Korea cooperation agreement, the Washington Declaration

Tackling the threat: On the U.S.-South Korea cooperation agreement, the Washington Declaration

Negotiation, not nuclear deterrence (अवरोध), is the way to peace in the Korean Peninsula

On the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol not only sang “American Pie” at the White House but also sealed an important cooperation agreement with his American counterpart Joe Biden to protect the Korean Peninsula from a nuclear attack by the likes of North Korea. Under the new pact, labelled the “Washington Declaration”, U.S. strategic assets will be deployed (तैनात करना) around the Korean Peninsula and a joint Nuclear Consultative Group will share tactical (चातुर्यपूर्ण, सामरिक) information, engage in joint training, and coordinate military responses to any potentially (संभवतः) hostile actions by North Korea. While Washington will remain the sole authority deciding on whether or not to carry out a nuclear response in any such eventuality (अवसर), the Biden administration will step up its contribution to symbolic deterrence against the North by sending, for the first time in 40 years, nuclear-armed submarines to the region, though they are unlikely to be a permanent deployment. U.S. tactical nuclear weapons stationed in South Korea were withdrawn from the region in 1991. Mr. Biden also used strong words to corroborate (समर्थन करना) the strategic (रणनीति-संबंधी) support that Washington has lent to Seoul, when he said, “A nuclear attack by North Korea against the U.S., its allies or… partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action” — language that was similar to what former U.S. President Donald Trump had used in a similar context.

The backdrop (पृष्ठभूमि) for this vote of nuclear confidence by the U.S. for its treaty ally is the steady (स्थिर, नियमित) growth of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, notwithstanding the short-lived hopes for a détente between Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after their summit meeting in Singapore in 2018. While during the early years after the North first tested a nuclear bomb in 2006 there was less concern over Pyongyang launching a coordinated attack on South Korea or beyond, in recent years, including during the Trump and Biden administrations, North Korea has steadily added to its stock of ICBMs capable of reaching U.S. cities, most recently testing a solid-fuel ICBM and altering its nuclear doctrine (सिद्धांत) to include the option to carry out pre-emptive strikes. While the “iron-clad” treaty between the U.S. and South Korea will strengthen the nuclear umbrella extended by Washington across the Korean Peninsula, the White House would be loath (अनिच्छुक) to risk any skirmish (झड़प, मुठभेड़) that could endanger U.S. citizens. However distant the prospect (आशा, संभावना) seems at the moment, the only way out of this dangerously unstable stalemate (गतिरोध) is for both sides to return to the negotiating (बातचीत करना, तोल-मोल करना) table and find modalities to deescalate (Reduce the intensity of (a conflict or potentially violent situation)) the situation on the ground and institutionalise peace-building initiatives in the longer term.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Deterrence (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - अवरोध
English Meaning - The action of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences

2.Deploy (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - तैनात करना
English Meaning - Move (troops or equipment) into position for military action

3.Tactical (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - चातुर्यपूर्ण, सामरिक
English Meaning - Showing adroit planning, aiming at an end beyond the immediate action.

4.Potentially (Adverb)

Hindi Meaning - संभवतः
English Meaning - With the capacity to develop or happen in the future

5.Eventuality (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - अवसर
English Meaning - A possible event or outcome

6.Corroborate (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - समर्थन करना
English Meaning - Confirm or give support to (a statement, theory, or finding)

7.Strategic (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - रणनीति-संबंधी
English Meaning - Relating to the identification of long-term or overall aims and interests and the means of achieving them.

8.Backdrop (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - पृष्ठभूमि
English Meaning - Lie behind or beyond, serve as a background to

9.Steady (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - स्थिर, नियमित
English Meaning - Firmly fixed, supported, or balanced; not shaking or moving.

10.Doctrine (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - सिद्धांत
English Meaning - A belief or set of beliefs

11.Loath (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अनिच्छुक
English Meaning - Reluctant, Unwilling

12.Skirmish (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - झड़प, मुठभेड़
English Meaning - An episode of irregular or unpremeditated fighting, especially between small or outlying parts of armies or fleets.

13.Prospect (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - आशा, संभावना
English Meaning - The possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring.

14.Stalemate (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - गतिरोध
English Meaning - Situation in which further action or progress by opposing or competing parties seems impossible.

15.Negotiating (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - बातचीत करना, तोल-मोल करना
English Meaning - Obtain or bring about by discussion.

16.Deescalate (Verb)

English Meaning - Reduce the intensity of (a conflict or potentially violent situation).