Ahead of his inauguration as South Korea’s president on Tuesday, Yoon Suk-yeol promised he would “dramatically strengthen” his nation’s defences against the rapidly developing nuclear forces of North Korea.
The conservative president’s campaign pledge highlighted an intensifying debate in the country whether to push for a return of US nuclear weapons to the Korean peninsula — and even whether South Korea should seek to develop its own nuclear deterrent.
Yoon used his inauguration address to offer “an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea’s economy” if Pyongyang committed to denuclearisation. But experts believe it is highly unlikely that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will give up its arsenal.