Push for Seoul getting own nuclear arms gains steam after Trump win

Former US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has South Korean conservatives pushing to secure nuclear capabilities to deter the threat posed by North Korea.

Rep. Yu Yong-weon, who sits on the National Assembly defense committee, on Monday hosted a seminar attended by some dozen ruling party lawmakers to discuss Korean Peninsula nuclear policy against the backdrop of a second Trump presidency.

Speaking at the seminar, Han Dong-hoon, the People Power Party chair, said Trump winning the US presidency could be a silver lining for South Korea.

“As Representative Yu has long advocated for, acquiring nuclear potential -- that is, having the right to enrich and reprocess uranium -- is not nuclear arms possession per se. But we would be capable of moving on to that stage at any moment if North Korea escalates nuclear threats,” he said.

The ruling party leader noted that for Seoul to widen its nuclear fuel usage, its agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation with Washington would first need to be revised.

“But I think we should be prepared for such a scenario amid the shifting power dynamics and world order,” he said.

Yu said that to address the “striking imbalance of nuclear arms imbalance” in the Korean Peninsula, securing reprocessing rights may be a “realistic option” for Seoul.

“There are a lot of concerns about former President Trump having been re-elected,” the first-time lawmaker said. “Gaining nuclear potential is going to be a long game for South Korea. But I think we can and should try to get there faster.”

Retired three-star Army general Rep. Han Ki-ho, reputed as a leading military expert in the ruling party, went a step further and said South Korea getting nuclear arms may no longer be a choice given North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons program.

“For South Korea’s survival, nuclear armament may be the only path left to us,” he said.

Within the People Power Party, a National Assembly resolution urging the government to pursue nuclear arms as a means of North Korean nuclear deterrent is underway.

The resolution, prepared and pushed by former ruling party chair Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, would be titled “a resolution calling for the right to self-defense and self-defensive nuclear armament to maintain permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula and ensure the safety of the Korean people,” he said.

Kim said he plans to introduce an Assembly resolution this week calling on the government to declare nuclear armament in the event North Korea carries out a nuclear provocation, such as a nuclear test or launches an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The five-time lawmaker said that by nuclear armament, he meant for the peaceful purpose of protecting the lives of South Koreans from an actual nuclear threat by North Korea. It was not intended to trigger a nuclear arms race, he said.

He went on to explain that South Korea’s armament would be peace-oriented and conditional. Once the North Korean nuclear threat is eliminated, South Korea would disarm itself immediately, he said.

“During a plenary meeting of the Assembly intelligence committee, our intelligence agencies reported that a nuclear weapons test by North Korea may be imminent,” he said. “Faced with such threats, the Assembly resolution underscores the need for our own nuclear arsenal to ensure the right to self-defense.”