South Korea is not considering the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons into the country, the presidential office said Sunday, in response to a U.S. media report that hinted the Trump government is willing to take it as a viable option should Seoul ask for it.
"There is no change in the government's policy principle of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and we have never reviewed a re-adoption of the tactical nukes," a Cheong Wa Dae official said.
On Saturday (Seoul time), a White House official said the administration is not ruling out moving tactical nuclear weapons to the South if Seoul makes a request, according to NBC.
The Cheong Wa Dae official stressed the redeployment will not only make the government's denuclearization policy "a lost cause" but could lead to a nuclear armament spree in the Northeast Asia region.
Demand from the conservative bloc for the redeployment of the tactical nukes has grown since North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.
The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on a draft sanctions resolution proposed by the U.S. on Monday that has tougher measures including an oil embargo and freeze of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's assets.
The North, meanwhile, blasted the South for being in steps with the U.N. to further rein in the regime with tougher sanctions.
A commentary by Rodong Sinmun, the state newspaper, called the move as "treacherous acts" and "an unpardonable provocation aimed at doing harm" to the regime.
It also warned the South that it will "meet stern judgment of history" if it keeps up the steps aimed at stifling the North. (Yonhap)
