1 April 2026

SEOUL, South Korea – In a commentary published today by the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN), Republic of Korea Foreign Minister CHO Hyun has delivered an emphatic rebuttal of suggestions that South Korea’s pursuit of uranium enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, and nuclear-powered submarines signals an intention to acquire nuclear weapons.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Minister Cho writes, in what is one of the most direct public statements by a senior ROK official on the nuclear latency question.

South Korea’s nuclear ambitions have drawn increasing international scrutiny since the United States gave its approval last year for Seoul to build nuclear-powered attack submarines and expressed support for the ROK’s pursuit of civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing. Some analysts have argued that these capabilities would give South Korea the technical capacity to produce nuclear weapons within months.

Minister Cho, a career diplomat with nuclear-related postings at the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, pushes back forcefully. He argues that nuclear armament would erode the US-ROK alliance, trigger a chain of regional proliferation, devastate South Korea’s globally integrated economy, and “fundamentally contradict the very character of modern Korean society.” Upholding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he writes, is “not simply a matter of principle, but a logical strategic imperative.”

The Minister also draws a pointed comparison with North Korea: “If the Republic of Korea were to abandon its commitments under the NPT, that would mean becoming another North Korea.”

The commentary comes less than four weeks before the NPT Review Conference opens in New York on 27 April, a five-yearly gathering of the treaty’s 191 member states to assess its implementation. The conference is expected to be shaped by deep divisions over nuclear disarmament, the expiration of New START, and the crisis in the Middle East, including the unresolved question of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Minister Cho’s article is published on the APLN website. APLN will invite responses from its network of more than 180 senior policy leaders across 24 countries as well as international experts.