South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida deserve a joint nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize for boosting military ties to deter North Korean threats, a top U.S. official said Wednesday.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell floated the idea as his personal view during an event on U.S.-Japan relations in Washington, where he praised cooperation with Seoul and said there could eventually be “trilateral engagement” on nuclear deterrence.