By Jung Min-kyung
Seoul needs to actively pursue pre-emptive strike capability to maintain a balance of power with North Korea amid escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, an expert said Thursday.
“(South Korea) needs to actively pursue (measures) to secure various pre-emptive strike capabilities,” Choi Kang, vice president of research at the Seoul think-tank Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said at a forum. The expert highlighted the rogue regime’s growing missile development program fueled by its decadeslong nuclear ambition and South Korea’s current “insufficient defense capabilities” to counter the North’s provocations.
“It is nearly impossible for South Korea to secure (and develop) its own nuclear capabilities, so (Seoul) needs to draw and review measures that promotes the logic of ‘balance of terror’ -- which can be obtained through deployment of tactical nuclear weapons,” added Choi.
“Redeployment of tactical nuclear arms along with deployment of strategic assets will bring about a meaningful result.”
With North Korea’s sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3, the international community has grown increasingly alarmed over the North’s fast-developing weapons program.
The political sphere is divided over talks of greater militarization of South Korea in response to ongoing threats from the North.
In line with Choi’s remarks, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party is stressing the need for a “nuclear balance of power” with Pyongyang to break down its “nuclear monopoly.”
The expert highlighted the rogue regime’s growing missile development program fueled by its decadeslong nuclear ambition and South Korea’s current “insufficient defense capabilities” to counter the North’s provocations.
“It is nearly impossible for South Korea to secure (and develop) its own nuclear capabilities, so (Seoul) needs to draw and review measures that promotes the logic of ‘balance of terror’ -- which can be obtained through deployment of tactical nuclear weapons,” added Choi.
“Redeployment of tactical nuclear arms along with deployment of strategic assets will bring about a meaningful result.”
With North Korea’s sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3, the international community has grown increasingly alarmed over the North’s fast-developing weapons program.
The political sphere is divided over talks of greater militarization of South Korea in response to ongoing threats from the North.
In line with Choi’s remarks, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party is stressing the need for a “nuclear balance of power” with Pyongyang to break down its “nuclear monopoly.”
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20171019000727
