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The recently signed Washington Declaration on US extended deterrence is a step in the right direction to address the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, a US lawmaker said Thursday.

Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) also insisted that the bilateral agreement between the allies is a step that will help enhance their joint deterrence while respecting the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

"Do I think the Washington Declaration aligns all concerns now, that do I think it is a step in the right direction? Certain it is," the congressman said when asked about the declaration issued by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden during Yoon's state visit to the US in late April.

The US lawmaker was speaking at a seminar jointly hosted by the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan, independent think tank based in Washington, and the East Asia Foundation. a nonprofit organization based in Seoul.

The Washington Declaration came in the wake of a growing call in South Korea to arm itself with its own nuclear weapons against North Korea's evolving nuclear threat.

The US reaffirmed its strong commitment to extended deterrence, which refers to its commitment to help defend South Korea using all its military, including nuclear, capabilities, while agreeing to launch a new Nuclear Consultative Group, which the allies said will allow South Korean input into how or even when the US should consider using its nuclear capabilities against threats facing South Korea.

Seoul, in return, reaffirmed its commitment to the NPT.

Bera noted Seoul understands "the risk of setting a nuclear arms race off in East Asia."

"I think we all share a healthy concern, obviously, of what North Korea is doing, but also the nuclear proliferation that we are seeing in the PRC right now," he told the seminar, referring to China by its official name, the People's Republic of China.

Rep. Choi Hyung-du of South Korea's ruling People Power Party underscored the need to strike a balance between Seoul's need to enhance nuclear deterrence and prevent a potential nuclear arms race.

"We have the NPT regime, and the US interest to maintain nuclear deterrence is fully understood. So we perhaps need to strike a balance by finding an alternative that looks similar to what is being offered to NATO where more active assurance of nuclear deterrence is being offered to the European partners," he told the seminar through an interpreter.

He, however, noted that it was still not fully settled that the Washington Declaration was "the possible best conclusion that our two countries could reach." (Yonhap)