South Korean media calls on Seoul to develop its own nuclear weapons

South Korean media called on the government to consider building nuclear weapons, in the context of North Korea's sixth nuclear test.

A South Korean man watches a news report on North Korea's nuclear test at an electronics supermarket. Photo: Reuters

"When nuclear weapons are hovering over our heads, we cannot always rely on the US nuclear umbrella," an editorial in Donga Ilbo on September 4 said.

South Korea is banned from building its own nuclear weapons under a 1974 nuclear deal with the United States. Washington provides South Korea with a nuclear umbrella to defend against potential attacks. 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea.

The US placed some nuclear weapons in South Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War, but withdrew them in 1991, when the two sides vowed to denuclearize the peninsula.

"We have no reason to abide by that statement, as the current situation is only the denuclearization of South Korea, not the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," wrote the editor of Donga Ilbo, adding that Seoul should not hesitate to reintroduce US tactical nuclear weapons and build its own atomic devices.

North Korea yesterday conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date, saying it was a hydrogen bomb that could be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

According to Reuters, if South Korea develops nuclear weapons, such a move will certainly provoke North Korea because the country has always said that it is at risk of being attacked by the US and South Korea.

According to VNE