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On January 12th (local time), the U.S. Department of Defense commented on President Yoon's mention of the possibility of 'independent nuclear armament,' saying, "U.S. policy remains focused on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
At the press conference that day, this spokesperson responded to a question about President Yoon's remarks about "self-nuclear armament."
"We are working with our regional allies, South Korea and Japan, to safeguard security and stability and to block attacks from countries like North Korea," the spokesperson said. He continued "We are defending and supporting South Korea by doing so."
In response to the question, "North Korea, China, and Russia all have nuclear weapons, so there is a lot of public opinion that South Korea needs to be armed with nuclear weapons. It is related to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the security and stability of the region," he said, adding, "South Korea's nuclear armament will encourage other countries to expand their armaments and provoke confrontation."
"From the US perspective, the US policy is still denuclearization (of the Korean Peninsula)" he continued, adding, "In addition to US forces inside South Korea, South Korea is part of the US extended deterrence 'nuclear umbrella. It is also a point to be remembered firmly that there is."
When asked, "What would you do if the nuclear umbrella doesn't work?" he answered, "I won't answer hypothetical questions," but said, "Until now, it's been working properly."
On January 11th, President Yoon said in a business report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense that if the (North Korean nuclear issue) became more serious, he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the Republic of Korea, or that our assets would possess nuclear weapons. "There is a possibility that we will" adding, "If that happens, we will be able to have (nuclear weapons) sooner with our science and technology."
2023/01/15 09:40 KST
