By Choi Ha-young
A group of lawmakers from the conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) returned home from Washington D.C., Saturday, where they had called for the U.S. to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons ― only to get the cold shoulder.
The team, led by Rep. Lee Cheol-woo, left for the U.S. with a self-imposed mission to convey South Koreans’ growing fears to politicians and officials there.
However, the team received a lukewarm reaction.
“U.S. government officials told us to trust the solid Korea-U.S. alliance and the American nuclear umbrella,” said Lee, who chairs the National Assembly Intelligence Committee. “Instead, the officials said they would come up with measures to send more strategic assets.
“We will keep working (for the redeployment) by garnering more public support.”
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lashed out against them Sunday.
“The LKP’s behavior is extremely irresponsible. They merely used a national security issue as a tool for political gain,” DPK spokeswoman Rep. Je Youn-kyung said in a statement.
“The redeployment would provide a reason for North Korea’s nuclear ambition. It would nullify the diplomatic leverage that international society can adopt to press the North.”
Following the North’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test, the LKP has brought hawkish security policies to the forefront to attract conservatives. The largest opposition party has lost the initiative in politics here, falling far behind the ruling camp.
During the four-day trip from Sept 12, the team met U.S. Department of State officials including Joseph Yun and Eliot Kang, Senators Cory Gardner and Dan Sullivan, as well as experts from Washington-based think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Wilson Center.
LKP members cited recent opinion polls in favor of a larger U.S. presence. According to a poll released by the Korea Society Opinion Institute, Sept. 10, 68.2 percent of respondents backed a redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons. A Gallup Korea poll Sept. 8 showed that 60 percent of respondents favored South Korea having nuclear weapons.
“If the U.S. is unlikely to accept redeployment, let’s kick off our own nuclear program,” LKP Chairman Hong Joon-pyo said Friday, at a rally in the conservatives’ core support base, Daegu.
“Since South Korea has operated nuclear power plants for 30 years, we’ve collected an enormous amount of plutonium. Once this is reprocessed, it’s possible to produce 100 nuclear bombs within 18 months.”
Before this remark, the call for nuclear armament was only raised by individual LKP lawmakers. In addition, the party is aiming to collect 10 million signatures in support of the tactical weapons redeployment.