South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol saluting at a military parade | Image: ROK Presidential Office (Oct. 2022)
Seoul could rapidly develop its own nuclear weapons if threats stemming from North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction become “more serious,” South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday.
The remarks represent the president’s most explicit comment to date about South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons, a prospect that enjoys widespread public support but which Seoul has long rejected as a U.S. ally under Washington’s nuclear umbrella and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Seoul could rapidly develop its own nuclear weapons if threats stemming from North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction become “more serious,” South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday.
The remarks represent the president’s most explicit comment to date about South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons, a prospect that enjoys widespread public support but which Seoul has long rejected as a U.S. ally under Washington’s nuclear umbrella and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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Jeongmin Kim is the Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean relations and North and South Korean foreign and military affairs. Kim has covered the 2022 ROK presidential election on the ground, and prior to joining NK News, she worked for the CSIS Korea Chair in Washington D.C. and Reuters news agency’s Seoul bureau.