The U.S.-South Korea Washington Declaration meets with criticism in Seoul

A TV screen shows an image of President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday. Biden and Yoon unveiled a new plan Wednesday to counter North Korea's nuclear threat. The words read "The South Korea-U.S. summit and adoption of the Washington Declaration." (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

SEOUL, South Korea – The U.S. and South Korean governments have both hailed the "Washington Declaration" by the two nations' presidents as measures that will strengthen an alliance that turns 70 this year.

But Wednesday's declaration has been met with mixed reviews in Seoul. Some, especially from the ruling party, are favorable, and suggest that the deal will ease anxieties about the threat the South faces from North Korea's ever-larger nuclear arsenal. But there has also been an outpouring of criticism that the deal resulted in Seoul giving more than it got — and that it could make South Korea's neighborhood a more dangerous place.