Will South Korea Develop Its Own Nuclear Weapons?
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"Nuclear armament is not possible in the 1-2 years. In the short term, I don't think it will happen. President Yoon talked about it early on, but he agreed very easily to the Washington Declaration and did not push hard for concessions at the summit with President Biden in Washington, DC. I question his commitment to pushing for nuclear weapons.
The next administration should work on pursuing nuclear weapons. We [Koreans] are not sure about what the results of the upcoming U.S. election will be. If Biden wins [and Yoon remains in power until 2027], he will continue to restrain South Korea from developing a nuclear program. But if Trump wins, South Korean support for domestic nuclear weapons will grow.
I'm not arguing we should start arming ourselves with nukes now. But we need to be prepared. As long as the security situation gets worse, it is inevitable that South Korea will develop nuclear weapons.”
- Dr. Cheong. Read full article
“The sixth obstacle is the absence of the U.S.’ delicate negotiation strategy and the deep-rooted mistrust between the U.S. and North Korea. For example, during the U.S.-North Korea high-level talks held in July 2018, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for full list of North Korean nuclear programs. The DPRK harshly criticized such a demand, labeling it a “gangster-like demand for denuclearization.” During the U.S.-DPRK Hanoi Summit held in February 2019, the two sides differed greatly in their positions: Pyongyang did not want to discuss its nuclear programs at that stage and offered to dismantle the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon while Washington adhered to its hardline position of “denuclearization must precede any sanctions relief” and even demanded Pyongyang to abandon its chemical and biological weapons. In addition to the two sides running parallel in their positions, Trump administration also experienced internal confusion due to a disagreement between the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor, which hampered the cooperation between Seoul and Washington in the end.”