'US nuke umbrella not enough'

The Korea Times

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Foreign Affairs

'US nuke umbrella not enough'

정몽준 “美 핵우산은 찢어진 우산... 전술핵 재도입해야”

Posted : 2013-02-19 16:44

Updated : 2013-02-19 16:44


Rep. Chung Mong-joon	Robert Galluci

Rep. Chung Mong-joon dismisses Galluci's assurances

By Chung Min-uck

Rep. Chung Mong-joon, a senior ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker, said Tuesday the U.S. nuclear umbrella falls short of reliable protection, calling for South Korea to acquire nuclear weapons.

Chung's call triggered criticism by two U.S. nuclear experts — Robert Galluci, President William Clinton's special envoy on the North's nuclear program and Gary Samore, President Barack Obama's arms control coordinator.

"Some say that the U.S. nuclear umbrella is a torn umbrella. If so, we need to repair it," said Rep. Chung in an opening speech during the Nuclear Forum 2013 hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

He reminded the audience of his call for nuclear armament during a National Assembly speech two years ago. "Then, I proposed the re-introduction of tactical nuclear weapons because the threat of a counter-nuclear force is the only thing that will discourage North Korea from developing its nuclear arsenal."

He acknowledged that the ROK-U.S. alliance has been one of the most successful military partnerships but said "it has been an abject failure" when it comes to the North Korea nuclear issue.

U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea were voluntarily withdrawn in 1991 shortly before the inter-Korean Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in 1992.

He explained that the advantage of bringing them back is that Seoul will not be in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since the nuclear weapons would be from Washington. "We would simply be restoring the pre-1992 condition," he added.

The ex-Saenuri Party chairman further went on to claim that Seoul needs to develop its own nuclear weapons saying, "Some say the only way to solve the North Korean nuclear problem is for the nation to follow the India-Pakistan example, or the case of Israel," which means to go nuclear and, concurrently, maintain strong political ties with the U.S.

Gallucci, who successfully came up with the Washington-Pyongyang framework on freezing North Korea's nuclear activities in 1994, and Gary Samore, executive director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, opposed it.

"I don't think there is any weakness in the ROK-U.S. alliance," said Gallucci when asked about the South Korean lawmaker's view. "I myself cannot find any reason to re-introduce U.S. nuclear weapons in the region. It would be inconsistent with the general direction of the administration of the U.S. to move away from relying on nuclear weapons to achieve security objectives. Moreover, I think there is virtually no advantage for the military in basing nuclear weapons on Korean soil."

"South Korea can be confident with the United States military alliance as it includes a nuclear umbrella, a U.S. commitment to use nuclear weapons to defend South Korea. Everyone including North Korea believes that commitment is really strong," said Samore.

He said Seoul can legitimately request Washington to station nuclear weapons inside South Korea but there was no military need to since the United States can deploy nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula anytime.

"The only value of re-introducing nuclear weapons would be political assurance. If there was a consensus in South Korea, it is something for the South Korean government to appeal to the U.S."

The two nations are currently in ongoing talks to revise their bilateral atomic energy agreement.

The nuclear accord is set to expire in 2014 and the two nations have been in talks to amend it since 2010.

The accord bans Seoul from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel. The government has been requesting an amendment to this citing the "peaceful use of nuclear energy."

정몽준 “美 핵우산은 찢어진 우산... 전술핵 재도입해야”

정몽준 새누리당 전 대표는 19일 북한의 핵무장에 대비해 전술핵 재도입을 포함한 모든 방법을 강구해야 한다고 주장했다. 아산정책연구원 명예이사장인 정 전 대표는 이날 아산정책연구원이 주최한 ‘아산핵포럼 2013’ 개회사에서 “한미 동맹은 역사상 가장 성공한 동맹 중 하나지만 북한의 핵무장을 막는데 있어서는 완전히 실패했다”며 “전술핵 재도입을 주장한 것은 북한의 핵개발을 저지할 수 있는 유일한 방법이 핵이기 때문이라고 했다.

그는 또 “전술핵은 미국의 것이기 때문에 재도입하더라도 한국은 핵확산금지조약(NPT)을 위반하지 않는다”고 말하면서 “미국의 ‘핵 우산은 ‘찢어진 우산’ 이라고 말하기도 한다”며 “이제 찢어진 우산을 고쳐야 할 때”라고 강조했다.

정 전 대표는 더 나아가 “북한 핵 문제를 해결하기 위해 한국이 인도나 파키스탄 모델을 따라야 한다는 주장도 나오고 있다”면서 “정치적으로 미국과 매우 가까우면서도, 핵무기를 보유하고 있는 이스라엘 모델을 도입해야 한다는 주장도 나오고 있다”고 소개했다. 그는 “우리도 핵 무장을 하는 것이 북한과 '빅딜'을 할 수 있는 유일한 길일지도 모르겠다”고 말했다.

정 전 대표의 한국 핵무장론에 대해 포럼 참석 차 내한한 북미 제네바 합의의 주역인 로버트 갈루치 전 미국 국무부 차관보는 “한미동맹은 군사적으로나 정치적으로 견고하며 한반도에 전술핵을 재배치할 이유가 없다”고 반박했다.

게리 세이모어 전 미국 백악관 국가안보회의(NSC) 대량살상무기(WMD) 조정관도 “적절한 방법이 아니다”라고 말하면서 “한미 군사동맹에 핵우산이 포함돼 있으므로 한국은 가장 강력한 핵무기를 가진 국가와 동맹관계란 점을 확신해도 좋다”고 강조했다.

또 한국 내의 전술핵 재배치 문제에 대해서는 “한국 국민과 정부가 의견 합치를 본다면 미국 정부와 논의할 수 있을 것이다”면서 “그러나 한국 내에서 의견 합치가 이뤄지지 않은 것으로 보인다”는 원칙적인 입장을 밝혔다.

muchung@koreatimes.co.kr