Attention is focused on whether the issue of tactical nuclear redeployment on the Korean Peninsula will become a public discussion during the second term of the US administration of Donald Trump, which will be inaugurated in January next year. Representative Jim Risch (Idaho) and Representative Roger Wicker (Mississippi), leading Republican senators who advocated for the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula, will serve as chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee, respectively, in the 119th U.S. Congress, which will be inaugurated on January 3 next year. Because it is powerful.
The redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons has been discussed both inside and outside Washington political circles whenever the level of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat rises, but no previous U.S. administration has publicly supported it. This is because it does not fit with the US policy of ‘protecting allies centered around the US nuclear umbrella’ and could cause a ‘nuclear domino’ across Northeast Asia, including Japan’s push for nuclear armament.
However, there is an analysis that President-elect Trump, who mentions the withdrawal and reduction of US troops in Korea due to cost issues, may perceive redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons as a card that can be considered when he re-enters the White House. The fact that key positions in the U.S. Congress and administration, which will lead the foreign and security policies of the second Trump administration, are filled with people who can argue for the need for nuclear redeployment on the Korean Peninsula also adds strength to this observation.
● Key foreign affairs and security figures in the U.S. Congress mention “nuclear armament of the Korean Peninsula”
Senator John Shun (South Dakota), who decided to serve as the Republican Senate leader in the 119th Congress, recently announced his assignment to major standing committees in the 119th Congress. He assigned Rep. Lisi to the Foreign Affairs Committee and Rep. Wicker to the Military Committee. The two lawmakers currently serve as Republican secretaries of their respective standing committees in the 118th Congress. When the 119th Congress, in which the Republican Party becomes the majority party, is inaugurated, it is likely that each will be elected as the chairman of the corresponding standing committee. The Foreign Affairs Committee and the Military Committee oversee the Department of State and the Department of Defense, respectively, and also set budgets.
The two lawmakers previously emphasized the need for nuclear armament of the Korean Peninsula several times. In a Fox News op-ed in May of this year, Rep. Wicker said, “It is time to pay attention to the flashing emergency lights on the Korean Peninsula and reexamine America’s nuclear forward deployment posture.” Rep. Rishi argued as early as March last year that “we must consider redeploying nuclear weapons to Korea.” At a Senate hearing this May, he also said, “We must explore ways to redeploy America’s nuclear weapons to Asia.” He emphasized that in order to respond to growing threats from China and North Korea, it is necessary to apply the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-style nuclear sharing plan to Asia as well.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House National Security Advisor nominee Michael Waltz, the two top diplomats and security advisers in Trump’s second term, are also famous for being hardliners against China. Nominee Waltz said on Fox News in 2017, “We must allow China to pressure North Korea by re-equipping tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and arming Japan.” A diplomatic source predicted, “As those who are ‘super hawks’ seek to dramatically increase the level of checks on China, establishing an Indo-Pacific nuclear sharing system that includes the Korean Peninsula could be an option.”
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, who was recently appointed as Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy in Trump’s second term, also stated several times that “Korea’s own nuclear armament must also be considered.”
● Even during Trump’s first term, redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons was mentioned.
The redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula was also discussed during the first Trump administration. In March 2017, the New York Times (NYT) reported, “At the time, during a meeting of the White House national security team on North Korea’s nuclear weapons, the idea of redeploying tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea to send a ‘dramatic warning’ to North Korea was discussed.” In September of the same year, NBC also stated, “The Trump (first term) administration is not ruling out deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Korea if requested by South Korea.”
The NYT reported that the issue of redeploying tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula is being discussed this August as the possibility of President-elect Trump returning to power increases. Until now, South Korea has considered possessing its own nuclear weapons, which runs counter to the U.S. non-proliferation system, as a taboo. However, as security anxiety in Korea grows due to the possibility that then-Republican presidential candidate Trump, who considers the value of the ROK-U.S. alliance relatively less important, to return to power, discussions on redeploying tactical nuclear weapons have begun. It was analyzed that it is reappearing.
Washington = Correspondent Shin Jin-woo [email protected]
Reporter Yunjin Kim [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog