President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday hailed the signing of guidelines for extended deterrence cooperation by Seoul and Washington as enhancing the bilateral alliance to one that he said is "nuclear-based," meant to counter North Korea's nuclear missile threats.

The "US-ROK Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula" document, signed between Yoon and his US counterpart Joe Biden on Thursday during Yoon's visit to Washington, "sets the stage for a readiness posture to sharply and effectively counter any form of North Korea's nuclear threat," Yoon told a Cabinet meeting in his office in Seoul Tuesday.

Yoon said that the guidelines ensure "special assignment of US nuclear assets to the operations on the Korean Peninsula, both in peacetime and wartime."

The guidelines, signed during Yoon's US visit to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit that took place July 9-11 in Washington, "laid a solid foundation for extended deterrence cooperation in an integrated manner between South Korea and the US," according to Yoon. They also urge the military authorities of the two countries to maintain and strengthen a credible and effective nuclear deterrence policy and posture.

The guidelines are a follow-up to the Washington Declaration signed in April 2023 that announced the Nuclear Consultative Group to strengthen US commitment to extended deterrence to South Korea, which is backed by the full range of the US' capabilities including nuclear. They also follow the Camp David Declaration signed in August 2023 between South Korea, the US and Japan, which expresses commitment to pursuing enhanced ballistic missile defense cooperation to respond to North Korean threats.

Biden was one of the 13 counterparts Yoon held bilateral talks with on the sidelines of the NATO summit last week.

Yoon met the leaders of the US, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Norway, Canada and Luxembourg, as well as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

In particular, Yoon highlighted South Korea's deals with NATO, such as an intelligence-sharing agreement to track North Korean weapons and ammunition spotted in areas not limited to the Korean Peninsula, and an airworthiness agreement between South Korea and NATO to boost South Korea's arms exports.

Yoon told his Cabinet during the meeting to go ahead with taking follow-up measures after the bilateral talks, including South Korean firms' potential participation in railway infrastructure projects and nuclear energy projects, as well as sales of military equipment.

Tuesday's Cabinet meeting came a day after National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin presided over a vice-ministerial meeting with the Foreign Ministry, Unification Ministry and Defense to discuss follow-up measures of the NATO summit.

The presidential office said the meeting revolved around intelligence sharing, cooperation and joint planning and execution related to nuclear operations on the Korean Peninsula, including plans to hold tabletop exercises -- discussion-based sessions where team members meet to discuss their roles in and responses to emergency scenarios -- and simulations jointly between Seoul and Washington, which the two agreed to hold regularly since 2023.