Why South Korea is talking about getting its own nukes
President Yoon Suk-yeol surprises America by musing about nuclear weapons
Rash talk about nuclear weapons is common from North Korea; less so from the South. In a speech given on January 11th Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s conservative president, speculated that a day may come when the threat from North Korea requires America to deploy nuclear weapons back to the peninsula. Failing that, he said, South Korea could “acquire our own nuke”. He said that this would not take long, given his country’s technological prowess.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Loose talk about nukes”
Asia January 21st 2023
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- Why South Korea is talking about getting its own nukes
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- Jacinda Ardern resigns as New Zealand’s prime minister
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