S. Korea most likely candidate to go nuclear in Northeast Asia: U.S. expert
South Korea is the most likely candidate to go nuclear in Northeast Asia in the face of nuclear threats from North Korea, but Seoul is unlikely to do so as long as the U.S. security commitment to the Asian ally remains firm, a U.S. expert said.Mark Fitzpatrick, a nonproliferation expert who heads the U.S. office of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), made the observation in his new book, "Asia's Latent Nuclear Powers: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan."Fitzpatrick said the three democracies can be called "latent nuclear powers" as they have civilian nuclear programs and development of several dual-use technologies that would enable them to produce nuclear weapons in perhaps two years -- or less in Japan's case.The three countries have strong reasons to maintain a nuclear option, he said. South Korea faces nuclear threats from North Korea, Taiwan has to cope with increasingly powerful mainland China, and Japan has to cope with both of them, the expert said."If a new nuclear-armed state were to emerge in Northeast Asia, it would most likely be the Republi
Feb 16, 2016
