KOREA JOONGANG DAILY

APLN member Jun Bong-geun argued that the case for South Korea’s nuclear armament overestimates uncertain benefits while underestimating tangible costs and disadvantages, particularly the effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear non-proliferation policy and the international non-proliferation regime.

If South Korea cannot own nuclear weapons for such reasons, what will be its security option? For now, the best option is utilizing the current mechanisms of U.S. Forces Korea, the nuclear umbrella and the nuclear consultative group in addition to strong conventional forces of the South’s own.

At the same time, South Korea must prepare a Plan B to brace for the worst possible scenario, in which the alliance will not work. Many talk about the option of having a nuclear potential through enrichment and reprocessing. But Uncle Sam and the international community will unlikely accept any enrichment and reprocessing for potential nuclear weapons development. Therefore, the government, the National Assembly, the atomic power industry and security experts must cooperate to create a strategy with an aim to acquire the enrichment and reprocessing rights for non-military purposes and implement the strategy according to their roles.

The original article can be accessed here.

Image: UN Geneva/YOON Seong-mee, Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN Office and Other IOs in Geneva, addresses the Ninth Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, Palais des Nations. UN photo by Violaine Martin