That is what some ruling party lawmakers in South Korea think:
Some lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party yesterday intensified their hardline stance on North Korea, calling on Seoul to establish its own nuclear deterrence capability to cope with the growing threat from Pyongyang.
“The only way to defend our survival would be to maintain a balance of terror that confronts nuclear with nuclear,” said Representative Shim Jae-cheol in a Supreme Council meeting held yesterday at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul.
Shim was referring to the North’s continued provocation against the South and the international community by conducting its third nuclear test last Tuesday, following its long-range missile launch in December.
“We will have to push forward with the measure of maintaining the South Korea-United States Combined Forces Command while redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons [that have been pulled out from South Korea],” he said, adding that the upcoming wartime operational control handover from the U.S. to South Korea should be postponed.
The maintenance of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command allows Washington to automatically intervene in the case of war.
Shim’s comments were made alongside what Representative Chung Mong-joon of the ruling party said last week, that it is time for South Korea to have its own nuclear deterrence capability. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I recommend going over to the Marmot’s Hole where he has a good posting discussing this issue as well.
The way I look at this is that the ROK’s have the best reason in the world to go nuclear considering all the provocations and threats that have been made against them. However I would be surprised if they do. This just appears to be tough talk by the ruling party knowing full well that the US will block any efforts to go nuclear. This allows these politicians to show the public that they are doing something, but are being blocked by the Americans. Is it any wonder why these same politicians want to have the US military keep Operational Control which would allow them to continue to blame the US for their own inaction?
Is...
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7:18 pm on February 19th, 2013 1
I think every nation in the world should posses nukes ….. including the Vatican ….
8:05 pm on February 19th, 2013 2
#1: Do you think everyone should be armed also?
8:38 pm on February 19th, 2013 3
If south Korea ever gets themselves some of those nuclear weapons ain’t nobody going to leave no dog scat on their doorstep.
8:50 pm on February 19th, 2013 4
“The way I look at this is that the ROK’s have the best reason in the world to go nuclear considering all the provocations and threats that have been made against them.”
Bad idea. ROK lacks the ability to leverage it’s nukes to actually be a deterrent instead of a giant red target marker. The country is physically too small and has no way to defend itself from aerial bombardment or preemptive launches. Every intelligence agency in the world knows that including Korea’s own. So any nukes they would have would only work as a first strike option, of course everyone knows that too. So now you have a nuclear armed nation that’s nukes can only do first strike, they as much a sneeze the wrong way and it can trigger someone to launch early to prevent a first strike.
A nuclear armed SK is not a deterrent to NK, nukes only act as deterrents if their survivable and you can cast sufficient doubt on the enemies ability to prematurely remove them from use.
8:53 pm on February 19th, 2013 5
SK can survive a nuke strike, it would devastate a large portion of the country but it would live on.
With that being said why not let them?
9:13 pm on February 19th, 2013 6
Now that the Four Rivers Funneling Funds to Cheabols Project is complete, the conservatives are looking for the next big thing to please their backers.
10:42 pm on February 19th, 2013 7
Considering the wacko criminal communist North Korean regime just north of their country in my opinion they are foolish not to become a nuclear power. Especially with the looming meat ax cuts coming to the US military if I were a South Korean I would demand that my country develop a nuclear deterrent. The South Koreans may believe with 99% certainty than the US will come to their aid in the event of a North Korean attack. The North Koreans may believe also in a 99% probability of the US coming to South Korea’s aid. If the South Koreans develop their own nuclear deterrent then the north should know with a 100% certainty that the South Koreans will use the nuclear deterrent if needed to defend the existence of their country. I have read that Kim Jong-un is even more of a hard liner than Kim Jong-il. South Korea needs a nuclear deterrent.
11:44 pm on February 19th, 2013 8
No need to have nukes.
Just damn stop sending food aid and other kind of aid and the Norks will be toast.
If SoKor and the UN has not been sending them aid, NoKor would have been exterminated without firing a shot.
3:15 am on February 20th, 2013 9
#7,
It has a nuclear deterrent in the form of its military alliance with United States, a country which has nuclear weapons.
7:53 pm on February 20th, 2013 10
Yes lets do this…..Lets hook the south up with Nukes….Oh wait there is a real good reason why Korean civilians are not allowed to have hand guns. Unreasonable Temper
2:33 pm on February 23rd, 2013 11
Absolutely not, and I could answer this without reading the whole article. The problem is that too many countries have them as it is, then also there are so many ways to which the funds and efforts could be put to better use.
5:18 pm on February 23rd, 2013 12
I heard the old folks saying that every tub will have to stand on its own bottom before its all over. Just think about it every time the Isralies and the Palestinians get it to a small argument the United States Hands about six hundred billion to get them stoped, let them fight until there is no such living thing on this earth as an Isreali or a Palestinian, then their tubs will be on their bottoms. I say it would be a real help if it happened that way with the south and north Korean. I think if the USA don’t start minding their own buisness they will get a dose of their own medicine.
1:49 am on February 24th, 2013 13
How sad that the world has come to this!