NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The head of South Korea’s conservative opposition party is urging the Trump administration to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea to help counter threats from North Korea and change the dynamics on the peninsula.
Hong Joon-pyo, head of the Liberty Korea party, is making his pitch for weapons in meetings in Washington with senior State Department officials and lawmakers from both parties.
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has opposed nuclear redeployments. Mr. Moon has said that deploying tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, or developing such weapons in South Korea, could lead to a nuclear arms race in the region.
But Mr. Hong’s tough line on North Korea won him public support and a second-place finish in elections that brought Mr. Moon to power this year after nine years of conservative rule.
U.S. officials have said they would consider options suggested by South Korean counterparts. South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo has also raised the possibility of reintroducing tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters in September. Mr. Mattis has declined to say how he responded to the suggestion.”
-Felicia Schwartz, “South Korean Opposition Leader Presses U.S. for Nuclear Weapons,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 25, 2017 04:28pm