South Korea officials said the country will not build nuclear weapons in response to the rapidly-expanding missile and nuclear capabilities of its neighbor, North Korea.
Doing so, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said to Reuters, could cause a rupture in the country’s alliance with the United States while also shocking financial markets around the world.
In recent months, an increasing number of members of the ruling conservative party, led by President Yoon Suk Yeol, have called for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons.
The debate has been fueled, apparently, by the possibility that GOP nominee Donald Trump could become president again following the November election. Trump has long complained about how much it costs the U.S. to have a military presence in South Korea, which has worried some officials there that they might have to fend for themselves.
Shin, though, told Reuters that having an arsenal of nuclear weapons built by South Korea would risk a devastating fallout to the country’s economy and diplomatic standing. He said it could end up crushing markets like happened in the U.S. stock market this week, on what’s being dubbed “Black Monday,” when markets experienced their worst losses in 16 years.
As Shin said during his interview with Reuters:
“You’ll face a huge crack in the U.S. alliance, and if we withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, it would bring various penalties, starting with an immediate shock in our financial market.”
The fact that so many people are debating nuclear weapons in South Korea shows how anxious people in his country are about the extended deterrence presence America has there, Shin said.
But, he continued, the “easiest, most effective and peaceful” way that North Korea’s threats can be countered is to strengthen that deterrence — not to build nuclear weapons.
There has been increasing turmoil in the southeast Asia region, with South Korea rights at the center of it all. The war in Ukraine and intensifying relations between China and the U.S. have brought many complications to the region.
As Shin said during his interview:
“Even in Northeast Asia, there are forces who are openly seeking to change the status quo by force, and we are at the forefront, directly affected.”
When North Korea came to a strategy partnership treaty agreement with Russia earlier this year, Shin said that their neighbor to the north went from “being a headache in Asia to a global villain.”
Moscow also tainted whatever national prestige it had, he said, by “begging for help” from North Korea, while also betraying the international community by conducting its invasion and ongoing war with Ukraine.
In response, South Korea has warned that it might give Ukraine some lethal weapons, which would be a major policy shift for the country, which typically sticks to economic and humanitarian assistance only.
South Korean officials have said they’d only consider sending weapons to Ukraine, though, if Russia ends up giving North Korea the technology needed for advanced weapons.
