South Korea could destroy its alliance with the United States and shock financial markets if it starts producing nuclear weapons, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told Reuters, rejecting the renewed domestic calls for the country to build its own arsenal to deter North Korea.
As North Korea rapidly expands its nuclear and missile capabilities, more South Korean officials and members of President Yun Suk-yeol's conservative ruling party have called in recent months to develop nuclear weapons.
The prospect of another term for former US President Donald Trump, who has complained about the cost of the US military presence in South Korea and launched unprecedented talks with the North, is further fueling the debate.
But Shin, a former three-star army general who also served as a lawmaker in Yun's party, said having its own nuclear arsenal risks devastating consequences for the South's diplomatic and economic climate.
"We are going to face a huge crack in the alliance with the US, and if we withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, it will lead to various sanctions, starting with an immediate shock to our financial market," he said in an interview.
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Shin acknowledged that the debate between politicians and foreign policy experts is a sign that many South Koreans are still worried about American extended deterrence - US military capabilities, especially its nuclear forces.
The intensifying strategic rivalry between the United States and China and the war in Ukraine have caused a radical shift in the post-Cold War paradigm, putting South Korea near the center of the turmoil and complicating its calculations, Shin said.
"Even in Northeast Asia, there are forces that openly seek to change the status quo by force, and we are at the forefront, directly affected," Shin said, speaking in his office in Seoul, the South Korean capital.
By concluding a strategic partnership agreement with Russia this year, North Korea has gone from being a "headache in Asia" into a "global threat", while Moscow tarnishes its own national prestige by "begging for help" from Pyongyang and betrayed the international community with its war against Ukraine, he said.
South Korea responded by warning that it could consider arming Ukraine with lethal weapons, a potential shift from its policy of sticking to humanitarian and economic aid, if Russia provided the North with advanced weapons technology.
Shin said North Korea received Russian help with a rocket engine used in a failed attempt in May to launch a spy satellite.