Presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo pledged to pursue a “nuclear weapons sharing” deal with the U.S. on Friday, although he said that this does not mean physically redeploying nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.

The comments come as a series of North Korean cruise and ballistic missile tests have generated heated debate between top presidential candidates about how to deter such threats. 

“I will seek to materialize a nuclear weapons sharing agreement with the United States as a peaceful means against the North’s nuclear threats,” Ahn declared at a foreign correspondent’s press conference in Seoul.

Ahn clarified that he does