South Korea wants nuclear umbrella

South Korea asks US for nuclear support to send 'strong message' to China

A South Korean lawmaker said that nuclear support from the United States is needed in order to protect against North Korea's continued aggression and unpredictability, but also to keep its larger neighbor in check

RT,

9 April 2013

During a trip to the United States, a powerful South Korean politician has suggested that his country needs nuclear weapons of its own - and not just to intimidate North Korea, but also to send a strong message to China.

Rep. Chung Moon-joon, in a speech Monday in Washington DC, said the Chinese have overlooked what Seoul sees as North Korea’s aggressive tactics in favor of disputes in Tibet and Taiwan.

“In terms of North Korea, China wants to maintain the status quo, reluctant to be active in putting pressure on it,” said. Rep. Chung, who, in his seventh term as a lawmaker, serves as the leader of South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party.

Chung is scheduled to speak again on Tuesday in the second of the two-day 2013 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference. According to Yonhap News, he will suggest that US politicians provide arms to South Korea.

“Possessing nuclear weapons is the best way to counter North Korea’s nuclear threats,” he said. “It would send a strong political message not only to North Korea but also to China.”

Chung, who is one of the favorites to become president of South Korea in the country's 2017 election, also recommended that US officials reconsider giving South Korea wartime control of its own troops within the next two years.

“The US should halt a scheme to move the Second Infantry Division to a base south of the Han River in Seoul,” he said. “The US will also have to push for direct talks with North Korea to put a top priority on the denuclearization issue.”

It’s not the first time a South Korean lawmaker has pressured the US for nuclear support, but the idea has gained traction on the peninsula after recent provocations from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. That tension escalated again Monday with North Korea’s announcement that 51,000 workers would be recalled from a factory shared with the South, a major step toward ending economic ties.

Other South Korean leaders recanted statements Monday from Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae, who previously said “there is an indication” of activity around North Korea’s nuclear test site. South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said Monday that, while there are vehicles in the area, none of the events around the test site are unusual.

Despite the ongoing rhetoric Kim Sung-han, an international relations expert at Korea University in Seoul, doubted the two countries would descend into war. He told USA Today that, if North Korea does appear to be testing nuclear weapons, it’s only evidence that Kim Jong-un is desperate for power.

“This problem of power consolidation is his gigantic task to accomplish in a short period of time,” Kim said, adding that the North Korean leadership is “gradually losing domestic support” with a chance of an outbreak of public discontent.

"It’s always helpful to remind the people that their country is surrounded by evil and scheming enemies, and only the leader and the army can keep the country secure.”