The 'end' of Kim Jong Un? What the 'Washington Declaration' means

If North Korea uses its nuclear weapons against the United States or its ally South Korea, it would be “the end” of Kim Jong Un’s regime, Seoul and Washington announced this week.

If North Korea uses its nuclear weapons against the United States or its ally South Korea, it would be "the end" of Kim Jong Un's regime, Seoul and Washington announced this week.

The stern threat comes as President Yoon Suk Yeol is on a six-day state visit to the United States, where he and his counterpart Joe Biden discussed ramping up the U.S. security shield for South Korea in the face of the nuclear-armed North's increased missile tests.

But how significant is the tough-sounding statement? AFP takes a look at what we know:

The Washington Declaration boosts the U.S. nuclear umbrella over South Korea.

It includes the regular deployment of a U.S. nuclear submarine to South Korea — something that has not happened since the 1980s — and other measures, including more information sharing in the event of a North Korean attack.

But there are no plans to station U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea, and some analysts doubt the declaration's practical value.

"It is questionable whether the North would be afraid of a strategic nuclear submarine equipped with an SLBM with a range of more than 7,400 km (4,600 miles)," Cheong Seong-chang of the Center for North Korea Studies at the Sejong Institute told AFP.