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| ▲ People watch a news report on North Korea's firing of ballistic missiles at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Feb. 20, 2023. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) ruling party-nuclear armament
(LEAD) Ruling party leader says calls for own nuclear armament boosted by N.K. provocations
(ATTN: ADDS opposition leader's remarks)
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) – The chief of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Monday warned that calls for South Korea to consider acquiring its own nuclear weapons will get a boost if North Korea continues its military provocations.
Rep. Chung Jin-suk made the remarks after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea earlier in the day, following the North's launch of a long-range ballistic missile Saturday.
"We have a clear option on North Korea's nuclear weapons. We must first secure a concrete nuclear deterrence. ... We need to strengthen our Kill Chain so North Korea can never rise to its feet again if it uses nukes on the Korean Peninsula," Chung said in a party meeting.
Kill Chain, a preemptive strike platform, is one of South Korea's three-axis deterrence system, along with the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation, a program to target an adversary's leadership in a contingency, and the Korea Air and Missile Defense system.
"We need to seriously consider developing our own nuclear capabilities if such a response is insufficient," the PPP leader said, citing former French President Charles de Gaulle, who said the United States would not risk New York for Paris.
The Gaulle administration tested its own nuclear weapon in the 1960s based on the claim.
The PPP leader also criticized the former Moon Jae-in administration, saying it threw a fake "peace show" with a lie that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is willing to give up nuclear weapons.
Kim will never let go of nuclear weapons even if millions of North Koreans starve to death, Chung said, vowing that the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol and his party will protect the South Korean people through the strong alliance between Seoul and Washington.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, however, urged the government to ease its hard-line stance against Pyongyang, claiming that it is only heightening concerns over security.
"If the government continues to insist on its hard-line response, the livelihood economy, which is already at its worst, could sink into a deeper pit," Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said in the party's Supreme Council meeting.
The DP has accused the president of unnerving the public with hard-line rhetoric on the North while overlooking economic and livelihood matters.
"At a time when North Korea has avowed additional provocation, the problem is our government's capacity for response and attitude," Lee said. "It is only causing political strife like kids picking a fight."
Still, the opposition leader said he "strongly condemns" additional provocations by the North.
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