North Korea’s tests stir nuclear debate in South

After firing its largest-ever missile, North Korea is preparing to conduct a nuclear test, officials and analysts say, reviving a longstanding debate south of the border: should Seoul have nukes too?

Pyongyang has conducted a blitz of sanctions-busting weapons tests this year, including launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at full range for the first time since 2017.

It was a dramatic return to long-range testing after a years-long pause while leader Kim Jong Un embarked on a round of failed diplomacy with then-US president Donald Trump in 2018.

Renewed North Korean saber-rattling, coupled with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has shifted the public mood in South Korea — with growing demand for their own deterrent.

“Discussions on South Korea possibly pursuing its own nuclear capability have been circulating,” said Soo Kim of the RAND Corporation.

“The nuclear option is likely to remain on the discussion table for Seoul’s decision-makers. But this, of course, will have implications and reach beyond the Korean Peninsula.”

The discussion on whether South Korea should pursue nuclear armaments extends beyond official circles, with a majority of citizens also appearing to support such a move.

Seventy-one percent of South Koreans now favor the country getting nuclear weapons, according to a research paper published in February by the US-based Carnegie Endowment and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.