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| President Yoon Suk Yeol and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden shake hands during a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, in this April 26 photo. Despite intensifying North Korean security threats, public support for the idea of arming South Korea with its own nuclear weapons has been waning, a new study showed Monday. EPA-Yonhap |
More South Koreans trust in US nuclear umbrella after Washington Declaration: poll
By Jung Min-ho
Despite intensifying security threats from North Korea, public support for the idea of developing the nation's own nuclear weapons program has been waning, a new study showed Monday.
According to a survey conducted by the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), a think tank, 60.2 percent of respondents said that they would support arming their country with its own nuclear weapons. This figure was a significant drop from 69 percent last year and the lowest since 2014, when the organization conducted its first study on the issue.
The rate of support for the deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea also fell to 53.6 percent from 60.4 percent in 2022.
Asked whether they trust Washington's nuclear umbrella, its commitment to respond to a nuclear attack on South Korea by using its own nuclear weapons, 72.1 percent said they do.
Researchers said that the April 26 Washington Declaration, through which the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to protecting South Korea from North Korea's possible nuclear attack by opening an official channel for nuclear consultations among other measures, affected some results in the study, which was carried out between April 15 and May 10.
Notably, trust in the U.S.' nuclear umbrella rose to 75.6 percent, among the 497 respondents, after the declaration was announced, compared to 68.7 percent who responded before the announcement. Yet the agreement appears to have had little impact on their opinions about the possible development of Korea's own nuclear arsenal, researchers added.
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| Drones fly during South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, May 25. AP-Yonhap |
The study indicates that although a majority of South Koreans are still in favor of building their own nuclear weapons, they may not consider it a worthy trade-off if it jeopardizes the alliance with the U.S., on which they apparently place a higher value.
Asked to choose between having their own nuclear weapons and keeping the U.S. military forces in their country for security purposes, 49.5 percent said they would prefer the U.S. military, while 33.8 percent chose nuclear weapons; 16.8 percent said they were unsure.
Many polls conducted in recent years show an overwhelming level of support in South Korea for the development of the country's own nuclear weapons, with Pyongyang stepping up efforts to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities. However, KINU researchers said the high support rates could be attributed to the questionnaire's design, whereby respondents were not informed properly of the realistic risks the nuclear move would entail.
In the latest study, researchers laid out a list of six expected risks to the country creating its own nuclear weapons: facing economic sanctions, damaging the South Korea-U.S. alliance, destabilizing the region, high development costs, environmental destruction and tarnishing the peaceful image of South Korea. When asked if the country should take the nuclear path despite those risks, support rates were far lower ― between 36 and 40 percent.
Additionally, a majority of the respondents said that they would support the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, simply known as NPT, with 68.2 percent saying countries without nuclear weapons currently should never be allowed to have them.
In another noticeable finding, 36.3 percent said that South Korea should help Taiwan if China tries to take control of the self-governing island, while 21.5 percent said it should not become involved.
