SEOUL — South Korea announced on Thursday it is accelerating the development of independent nuclear deterrence capabilities, marking the most significant shift in its defence posture since the peninsula’s division in 1945.
The government said it would resume the production of fissile material through its civil nuclear programme, a move that defence analysts say could be diverted to weapons use within months of a political decision to do so. The National Assembly approved the programme in a 187-31 vote, with the governing party citing deteriorating security guarantees from the United States.
The announcement came 10 days after the Trump administration declined to reaffirm extended deterrence commitments on the Korean Peninsula during a diplomatic exchange with Seoul. US officials said the omission was an oversight, but South Korean public opinion polls show 68 percent of citizens now believe the US security guarantee is unreliable.
Beijing, Tokyo, and Washington all expressed concern. China’s foreign ministry called the decision “destabilising for Northeast Asia.” Japan said it was “gravely concerned.” The International Atomic Energy Agency requested an emergency inspection visit to South Korea’s nuclear facilities, a request Seoul said it would consider under the terms of its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations.
The US Department of State said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and would not withdraw its approximately 28,500 troops stationed on the peninsula. The announcement rattled financial markets, with the won falling 1.4 percent against the dollar in early Asian trading.
South Korea is not a nuclear weapons state. If it pursued a weapons capability, it would be the first country to exercise the right to withdraw from the NPT and develop a nuclear arsenal — a scenario that could trigger a cascade of proliferation across the region.
Sources: Reuters, AP, Yonhap News, The Korea Herald, BBC, Financial Times.