South Korea: Opposition party calls on US to redeploy nuclear weapons

(Baonghean.vn)- On September 27, many officials of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party in South Korea said that the party's leader Hong Joon-pyo plans to visit the United States next month..

Leader of the opposition Liberty Korea Party. Photo: Yonhap

The purpose of the visit is understood to be to highlight the need to redeploy US tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea to counter growing threats from North Korea.

According to the plan, Mr. Hong will make a five-day visit, starting from October 23, to meet with US diplomatic and security officials as well as scholars to discuss the nuclear issue.

The visit was arranged amid rising regional tensions following North Korea's sixth nuclear test on September 3 and the launch of a series of ballistic missiles, as well as recent threats from US and North Korean leaders.

The Liberty Korea Party is working to arrange for its leader to meet with top officials from the US State Department and Department of Defense, leaders of both houses of the US Congress, and experts from leading think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Mr. Hong's original plan also included a visit to the US Pacific Command based in Hawaii.

Earlier this month, the party sent a delegation to Washington to lobby the US side to support the policy of redeploying nuclear weapons that the US withdrew from South Korea in 1991. However, they only received a negative response from the US side because Washington still strongly maintains the principle of denuclearization and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

As the nuclear standoff with North Korea shows no signs of abating, the Liberty Korea Party has stepped up calls for the South Korean government to explore nuclear options to achieve a “nuclear balance” with North Korea, but Seoul has rejected the call out of concern that the option could destabilize Northeast Asia and spark a nuclear arms race in the region./.

Lan Ha

(According to Yonhap)