South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan today ruled out bringing US nuclear weapons back to the nation’s territory in response to North Korea’s own production of a small nuclear arsenal.
“It can never be our option,” insisted the Foreign Minister. The US military will neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons in South Korea, but it is widely believed they were removed decades ago.
South Korea is planning to host a major nuclear security summit in 2012, and says this will be the “last chance” for North Korea to abandon its nuclear arsenal. It is unclear exactly how this will be the case, however.
North Korea, for its part, says it has no plans to abandon its nuclear weapons, but says it will support non-proliferation efforts based on its status as a nuclear weapons state.