PNN – While North Korea seeks to strengthen its missile and nuclear capabilities in the neighborhood of South Korea, the people of the southern neighbor are concerned about self-defense despite the nuclear umbrella of the United States and desire to have nuclear weapons, which was once a taboo for Seoul.
According to Pakistan News Network’s Saturday report, quoted by the New York Times newspaper, after the unstable armistice obtained from the 1953 Korean War, the people of South Korea live with the promise of America to defend their country with nuclear weapons if necessary. Last year, US President Joe Biden once again pledged that any nuclear attack by North Korea would lead to the destruction of the country’s government.
But decades of assurances from the US have failed to stop North Korea from building and expanding its nuclear arsenal. North Korea, led by Kim Jong Un, is testing missiles powerful enough to reach the United States. The revival of the Cold War-era defense agreement between North Korea and Russia (another nuclear-armed state) has unsettled South Korea.
South Korea has long considered the pursuit of nuclear weapons a taboo, contradicting Washington’s non-proliferation policy. But concerns about the security issue have intensified with the possible re-election of Donald Trump; His commitment to an alliance between Washington and Seoul appears shaky at best.
Now, a growing majority of South Koreans say their country needs its own nuclear weapons instead of relying on the United States for protection. This idea, although rejected by the South Korean government, is gradually becoming part of the mainstream political debate.
Polls show that many South Koreans say they can no longer rely on the US nuclear umbrella to protect them from North Korea. They doubt that Washington will come to their aid in case of conflict with North Korea.
Cheong Song Chang, who leads a group of 50 nuclear analysts, said: We cannot expect and should not ask the President of the United States to use his nuclear weapons to defend his ally while risking sacrificing his own people. We have to defend ourselves with what we have.
South Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons program in the 1970s as Washington pushed for a non-proliferation policy and decided to rely on the United States to defend itself against North Korea.
Tens of thousands of US troops have been stationed in the Asian country for decades, and South Korea has hosted US nuclear weapons for years. Washington withdrew these weapons in 1991, hoping that it would lead to the disarmament of Pyongyang.
Kim has tested both nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyang is developing technology to deliver multiple nuclear warheads with a single missile. It has also increased its threat to target South Korea with a fleet of short-range ballistic missiles.
In June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that North Korea has built about 50 nuclear warheads and has enough fissile material to build another 40.
Despite America’s emphasis on the protection of South Korea and the promise of a decisive response if Pyongyang attacks Seoul, South Koreans do not have much hope for America’s promises.
A February poll in South Korea found that those who believed Washington would defend their country with nuclear weapons fell to 39 percent from 51 percent last year. Another survey, conducted annually for a decade, revealed a historic shift.