Japan's accession to the US-led nuclear deterrence group will complicate China's active expansion in the Pacific

The substantial expansion of the United States security presence in the Pacific region in 2023 was anchored by two fundamental agreements.

The Camp David Accords, which resulted in the formation of an institutionalized defense alliance between Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul, and the Washington Declaration, which returned nuclear weapons (the nuclear submarine USS Kentucky SSBN-737) to South Korea.

The main purpose of the updated agreements between the states was to ensure a multi-level deterrence of China and its closest regional associates, the DPRK and Russia.

The United States aimed to dissuade South Korea from developing national nuclear capabilities through these agreements: in particular, the Biden administration guaranteed that Seoul could count on the American "nuclear umbrella" in case of any external nuclear threat.