U.S. Ambassador rebukes calls for tactical nuclear weapons

Philip S. Goldberg, the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, insisted on the importance of the need for removing nuclear weapons to alleviate the tension on the Korean Peninsula rather than focusing on the redeployment of nuclear weapons, whether it be strategic or not, either of which will exacerbate the threats. Asked about his opinion on the redeployment of the U.S.’ tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula at the forum held by the Kwanhun Club, Mr. Goldberg answered as the above, citing the latest remark of President Yoon Suk-yeol on the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, thereby strictly renouncing the argument for the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons or nuclear sharing and reiterating the principle of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The U.S. ambassador criticized all the talks on tactical nuclear weapons, calling it “irresponsible and dangerous,” whether it came from Russian President Vladimir Putin or North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “We are determined to stop the spread and development of nuclear weapons, and we support the NPT,” emphasizing that the U.S. neither recognizes North Korea as a nuclear state nor overlooks the North Korean nuclear issue causing a nuclear domino effect in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said that any North Korean provocations, including a nuclear test, will lead to a greater concern for nuclear proliferation.

A high-profile government official said in a telephone interview with The Dong-A Ilbo that the two countries have agreed, on the most basic level, to ramp up the deployment of U.S. tactical weapons and the joint military exercise. “Should North Korea conduct the seventh nuclear test, however, the agenda on the table between South Korea and the U.S., about extended deterrence, will become considerably different,” the official added.


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com