Expert calls for US nuke weapons deployment here

By Yi Whan-woo

The United States should deploy nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula to counter North Korea’s military threats, according to an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

Speaking on Radio Free Asia (RFA), Tuesday, Clark Murdoch, a senior advisor at CSIS, said South Korea may want U.S. nuclear arms, such as bombers carrying nuclear missiles, deployed on its soil. He also said that Seoul may develop such weapons on its own.

RFA said Murdoch’s comment came during a roundtable discussion in Washington D.C., Monday, while referring to a CSIS report released in May.

Murdoch is a co-author of the 158-page report titled, “Project Atom: A Competitive Strategies Approach to Defining U.S. Nuclear Strategy and Posture for 2025-2050.”

The report predicted the Kim Jong-un regime is likely to maintain power at least until 2030.

It claimed a collapsing state such as North Korea could use nuclear weapons as “a last-gasp, in-your-face act of anger and revenge.”

It also said Pyongyang will maintain a small arsenal of nuclear weapons, including miniaturized nuclear warheads that can be mounted on inter-continental ballistic missiles.

The report raised concerns over Washington’s limited access to gain intelligence on North Korea’s nuclear employment and capabilities.