Prez Yoon Suk Yeol reiterates South Korea won't seek its own nuclear deterrent

South Koreas President Yoon Suk Yeol reiterated that the country would not seek its own nuclear deterrent in the face of threats from nucleararmed North Korea as he vowed further efforts to sharpen nuclear deterrence strategies with ally United StatesIn a prerecorded interview with KBS television that aired on Wednesday night Yoon insisted that South Korea clearly has the technology to quickly acquire nuclear weapons capabilities if it ever decides to do so But taking that step isnt a realistic option as it would ruin a tradedependent economy he saidIf we develop nuclear weapons we will receive various economic sanctions like North Korea does now and our economy will be dealt a serious blow Yoon said while emphasising Seouls commitment to the nuclear Nonproliferation TreatyYoon a conservative who took office in 2022 has made similar comments before as he pushed for stronger reassurances from Washington that it would swiftly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its ally in the event of a North Korean nuclear attackTensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to accelerate his countrys weapons tests while issuing provocative threats of nuclear conflict with the SouthSouth Korea has responded by expanding its combined military exercises with the United States and Japan and the countries have also been upgrading their nuclear deterrence strategies built around strategic US military assetsIn a fiery speech at North Koreas rubberstamp parliament last month Kim declared that the North was abandoning its longstanding objective of reconciliation with the wardivided South and ordered the rewriting of the North Korean constitution to define the South as its most hostile foreign adversaryPyongyangs rubberstamp parliament during a meeting on Wednesday formally abolished laws on economic cooperation with South Korea according to the Norths Korean Central News Agency on ThursdaySome experts say Kim seeks to drive up pressure in an election year in South Korea and the United States There are concerns about a direct provocation in border areas including the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas that has been the site of bloody naval skirmishes in past yearsIn his interview with KBS Yoon described Kims government as irrational forces who are putting further strain on North Koreas broken economy by aggressively expanding the countrys collection of nuclear weapons and missilesWe need to keep that in mind as we prepare to counter their security threats or provocations preparing not just for actions based on rational judgments but also actions based on irrational conclusions Yoon saidSouth Korean experts and officials say Kims aggressive nuclear push despite limited resources has battered an economy already crippled by decades of mismanagement and USled sanctions over his nuclear ambitions In a separate report KCNA said Kim during an inspection on Wednesday of factories producing foodstuff paper and necessities in a rural eastern region berated officials for unspecified shortcomings in productionYoon said the South was willing to provide economic assistance if the North displayed a genuine willingness to wind down its nuclear weapons and missile programmeHe said he has no intentions of chasing a summit with Kim if its just for show saying that previous meetings between Korean leaders did nothing to stop North Koreas nuclear ambitionsThe topdown way is not ideal Yoon said We need a bottomup structure where there are exchanges and discussions between workinglevel officials to create agendas and prepare substantial results and summits should come after thatThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever