A photograph provided by North Korean state media showed the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile in November.Credit…Korean Central News Agency,
The comments marked the first time a South Korean leader mentioned the idea of Seoul obtaining its own nukes in decades
Originally published by AntiWar
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday threatened that South Korea could obtain its own nuclear weapons if threats from the North grow, marking the first such comments from a South Korean leader in decades.
“It’s possible that the problem gets worse and our country will introduce tactical nuclear weapons or build them on our own,” Yoon said at a policy briefing with his foreign and defense ministers. “If that’s the case, we can have our own nuclear weapons pretty quickly, given our scientific and technological capabilities.”
Yoon’s warning comes as tensions are soaring on the Korean Peninsula, and the prospect of the South obtaining nukes will inflame tensions even more.
According to The New York Times, Yoon’s comments were the first time a South Korean leader officially mentioned arming the country with nuclear weapons since the US withdrew its nukes from the Korean Peninsula in 1991. Yoon added that he could ask the US to redeploy those weapons and said increasing military cooperation with Washington was another way he could deal with the growing threats from Pyongyang.
He also said that acquiring nuclear weapons was not yet an official government policy, but his office did not walk back his comments when asked to clarify them the following day.
“The most important part of his comments yesterday was that, as a realistic measure at the moment, it’s important to effectively strengthen extended deterrence within the security alliance between South Korea and the United States,” Yoon’s office said Thursday.
“However, when it comes to security, the worst-case scenario must always be taken into consideration, and from that perspective, he was making his commitment and determination ever clearer to protect the people as commander-in-chief against the escalating threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons,” the office added.
South Korea is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which bans non-nuclear armed states from acquiring nuclear weapons. Yoon’s office said that Seoul still abides by the NPT.
North Korea launched a record number of missile tests in 2022 as the US and South Korea resumed massive war games. North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un recently ordered his country to expand its nuclear arsenal, and Yoon said shortly after that he was in talks with the US on expanding military exercises to include US nuclear forces.
The Biden administration has made virtually no effort to defuse tensions on the peninsula, at least publicly, and has only ramped things up by deploying bombers to South Korea for the first time since 2017. The administration maintains it’s open to talks with Pyongyang but hasn’t offered any incentive to bring North Korea to the table.
he wants to start war and destroy his country, let him do it.
United Korea with Pyongyang as the capital like how Kim il Sung invision
“TRUMP WANTED TO NUKE NORTH KOREA AND THEN BLAME IT ON ANOTHER COUNTRY”
“In a new section of his 2020 book on Trump, as obtained by NBC News, New York Times correspondent Michael Schmidt reveals that Trump spent much of 2017 suggesting “behind closed doors in the Oval office” that he wanted to attack North Korea.” <- Nuking N-Korea. AKA – The US & N-Korea denuclearisation. (Sound like Russia-NATO/US peace agreements about Ukraine doesn't it and that was all about BUYING TIME.)
Also, "Last March, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Donald Trump reportedly told a room full of Republican National Committee donors that the US should “put the Chinese flag” on a bunch of military planes and “bomb the shit” out of Russia—and afterward, “we say, China did it, we didn’t do it, and then they start fighting with each other, and we sit back and watch.” Maybe you remember this, because it was a fucking insane thing to say."
Fuking donkeys that says shit they have no clue about – The US has one party and they are all part of the same team. They are fighting to get money out of anywhere they can and that is about it. Trump build a wall and Biden is finishing it, and Trump run away from Afghanistan half way and Biden finished.
Even this new story about Biden "classified documents" is about removing Biden from running again remember when he said 1 term only. They are removing Trump and Biden to put up a clown puppet.
TLDR, they were cooking this for a long time, like Iran nuclear deal, The Minsk agreements, Taiwan, etc etc etc.
I believe and swallow everything NYT writes because it is not something they believe. Its something they actually know from kosher sources.
They quote him saying that. The 2nd part if you read it was when he said it in room full of Republican National Committee donors. So what is your problem m8? The source still?
BTW, sorry if you didn’t know but it was those kosher clowns with fat Wahhabis that put Trump up. It wasn’t Russia gate it was Zionists and Wahhabis gate.
Disgusting American slaves…
I don’t like US imperialism but I don’t like communism either. NK is a totalitarian state.
It is actually but I wouldn’t like to live in a place like North Korea.
OK but what would they do with it, if NK launches, NK dies, so more nookers will make it better, somehow…
What is it with pro western leaders of non Nato countries who want to raise their hands and ask the adversarys of nato for a fight. Seems they all want to transform their country in a battleground and their people into cannonfodder.
China messed up, they should have pushed the yanks right of the peninsula all those years ago
These nukes would be sold to Ukraine to bomb Donetsk, and Russia would retaliate by bombing a command centre in Krematorski, Donbass where Ukraine still have a stronghold.