Nuclear armament forum held

Participants in a nuclear arms forum, hosted by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party at the National Assembly, Wednesday, listen to an explanation about North Korea’s development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) hosted a forum Wednesday to push for the country’s nuclear armament as a countermeasure to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats.

The party’s lawmakers renewed their call to the government to consider requesting the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons here.

They said the government should invalidate an inter-Korean denuclearization accord that took effect in 1992, acknowledging that the North has virtually secured nuclear weapons.

“A pre-emptive attack is impossible as it is hard to detect signs of the North preparing for an attack beforehand, and a preventive attack will lead to a war,” Rep. Lee Cheol-woo said. “So, having nuclear arms is the right way to defend against Pyongyang.”

Rep. Chung Woo-taik, the party’s floor leader, agreed, saying: “It’s time to seriously look into the option of redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in the country.”

Their calls came two days after the party’s Chairman Hong Joon-pyo floated the idea of having the weapons in Korea, during a party meeting Monday.

Hong claimed the party should make it an official position, eliciting positive responses from its lawmakers. Chung said he will soon call a general meeting to seek consensus on the idea among floor members.

The LKP’s hawkish view has been strengthened amid rising missile and nuclear threats from the North. Earlier in the day, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said its military is examining an operational plan to strike areas around the U.S. territory of Guam with strategic ballistic missiles, raising military tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Its lawmakers ratcheted up their offensive against the Moon Jae-in government, questioning its defense readiness against the North’s potential missile attack.

“Even in Guam and Hawaii, evacuation drills are being conducted,” Rep. Lee Man-hee said. “I wonder if the government has truly been agile on this matter.”

The lawmakers also denounced the government for delaying the full deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system here. Chung said its installation has not been pushed since Moon ordered his aides to discuss with the U.S. the deployment of four additional THAAD launchers.

Following the North’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests, some LKP hardliners have repeatedly demanded the nation’s nuclear armament, including deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons.

But the government has rejected the opposition’s call, saying the nation’s nuclear armament constitutes a direct violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty, which could lead to international sanctions and jeopardize the South Korea-U.S. Defense Treaty.

South Korea renounced its move to develop its own nuclear weapons in the 1970s and joined the Nonproliferation Treaty in 1975. The U.S. withdrew all tactical nuclear weapons from South Korea following the joint Seoul-Pyongyang declaration in 1991.