The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

In the conflict with North Korea, Seoul also wants its own nuclear weapons

2023-04-29T20:26:27.327Z


In the face of threats from North Korea, Seoul is considering its own nuclear weapons. During his US visit, President Yoon was slowed down by Joe Biden. But the discussion is not over yet.


In the face of threats from North Korea, Seoul is considering its own nuclear weapons.

During his US visit, President Yoon was slowed down by Joe Biden.

But the discussion is not over yet.

Munich – South Korea's president knows how to inspire Americans.

On Wednesday night, Yoon Suk-yeol appeared before the audience at the state dinner held in his honor at the White House and announced that he will now show off his singing skills.

Host Joe Biden, who knows about Yoon's passion for karaoke, had asked him to do it, probably for fun.

Yoon only hesitated for a moment before he started singing the first lines of the folk classic “American Pie” to enthusiastic applause from the guests.

"I had no idea you could sing so well," Biden said after the short introduction.

"At the next state banquet, you'll take care of the entertainment!"

Yoon is staying in the United States for six days, the first state visit by a South Korean president in twelve years.

Wednesday night's song may have belied that for a moment, but Yoon's concern in Washington is nothing less than his country's survival.

Because Seoul is facing increasing threats from North Korea.

Hardly a week goes by without Kim Jong-un's regime testing some improved or even new weapon.

Joe Biden: North Korea nuclear attack would be the 'end' of Kim Jong-un

Just a few days ago, the dictator had a solid-fuel rocket fired into the Sea of ​​Japan for the first time, shortly before North Korea said it had had an underwater drone tested that was capable of "triggering a radioactive tsunami of enormous proportions".

Analysts also believe that it is only a matter of time before Kim orders a new nuclear test, for the first time since 2017. Kim's threats are always addressed to the United States and its neighbor to the south - "the enemy", as state propaganda regularly calls it rumbles

Officially, Pyongyang only wants to use its nuclear weapons if the south should attack the north.

But neither Seoul nor Washington want to rely on Kim's promises.

US President Biden therefore sent a firm warning to Pyongyang on Wednesday, before the musical state dinner.

A North Korean nuclear attack against the US or its allies would spell the "end" of the Kim regime, Biden said at a joint news conference with Yoon.

The Seoul guest added that South Korea and the US would respond to a North Korean attack "quickly, overwhelmingly and decisively, using the full strength of the alliance, including US nuclear weapons."

Yoon also stressed the importance of talks with North Korea.

But these could only make a difference from a position of strength.

+

The Kim regime presents an ICBM during a parade in Pyongyang.

© AFP/KCNA

Biden and Yoon no longer want to accept North Korea's threats

And so it wasn't just threats to the north: Biden and Yoon also announced that a nuclear-armed American submarine would dock in South Korea for the first time since the 1980s.

It is also planned to strengthen military exercises and simulations.

Seoul is also to gain insights into US strategic planning, including nuclear issues.

But one taboo remains: the United States does not want to station nuclear weapons in South Korea or deliver them to the country.

Yoon also promised in Washington that his country would no longer strive to build its own bomb.

It was Yoon himself who recently brought up nuclear armaments in his country.

The former Attorney General, who took office less than a year ago, spoke out in favor of the nuclear option for the first time in January.

Should the threat from the north continue to increase, either the US would have to station nuclear weapons in South Korea – or the country would have to build them itself.

"Given our scientific and technological capabilities," Yoon said, South Korea could produce its own nuclear weapons "quite quickly."

North Korea is testing nuclear weapons – the South would like to have some of its own

However, Seoul has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which prohibits just that;

a breach would probably result in international sanctions.

In addition, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed in 1991 "not to test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, stockpile, deploy or use nuclear weapons".

However, it is questionable what such a statement is still worth in view of the six nuclear tests carried out in the isolated north.

In any case, in surveys, South Koreans regularly advocate nuclear armament for their country, also under the impression of Kim Jong-un’s threats.

A surprising argument from nuclear proponents: own nuclear weapons would not only make South Korea safer, but also the USA.

If there were a nuclear escalation in Korea, they would not have to use their own nuclear weapons against Pyongyang - which would draw Washington even deeper into the conflict.

So far, however, the US government, which withdrew its last nuclear weapons from South Korea in 1991, does not want to follow this line of argument.

China criticizes US course on North Korea

However, Korea experts like Ramon Pacheco Pardo from London's King's College believe that the US and its allies could one day accept nuclear weapons from South Korea.

"Seoul has forged a global web of geopolitical and economic ties that would mitigate, and perhaps even prevent, prolonged diplomatic or economic reprisals if it decided to develop nuclear weapons," writes Pacheco Pardo.

In addition, South Korea is an important partner in the conflict with China for the USA and other western countries.

"Privately, many Western government officials probably wouldn't be against a nuclear South Korea."

China, perhaps the only country that still has some hold on the unpredictable Kim Jong-un, condemned the "provocative" meeting between Yoon and Biden on Thursday.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning warned in Beijing against "deliberately stoking tensions, provoking confrontations and emphasizing threats".

And she made it clear that China was unlikely to accept a nuclear-armed South Korea.

The mere US plan to send a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea undermines nuclear non-proliferation agreements and "the strategic interests of other countries," Mao said.

The goal must remain “denuclearization on the Korean peninsula”.

In view of the threats from the north, she left it open how that should work.

Rubric list image: © AFP/KCNA

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-04-29

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.