Ex-U.S. official calls idea of redeploying tactical nuclear arms to Korea ‘ignorant’

A former top U.S. nuclear envoy said Thursday it is "ignorant" to explore the option of returning nuclear weapons to South Korea for extended deterrence, as suggested by two U.S. congressmen. Robert Gallucci, the chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea during the nuclear crisis of 1994, made the remarks during a press conference on the sidelines of the ninth Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, an annual international peace forum on South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju. The remarks came after Senator Roger Wicker, a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, proposed the idea earlier this week of redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear arms to South Korea to enhance deterrence, noting the absence of any immediate diplomatic solution to North Korea's nuclear quandary. Senator Jim Risch also made similar remarks earlier this month, saying the U.S. should modify its nuclear forces and explore options for returning nuclear weapons to the theater to assure its allies. "Gosh, you are arguing f or weapons of mass destruction to be reintroduced to the environment and on the Korean Peninsula, and for me, that's manifestly stupid," he said. "So, these are not stupid people, I just think they are very ignorant." The former official further said such a scenario would not benefit South Koreans, North Koreans or even the United States. The distinguished professor at Georgetown University also emphasized that the North is well aware that utilizing its nuclear capabilities would not help its regime survive. "There is no, I repeat once again, there is no scenario in which North Koreans can use nuclear weapons anywhere and still survive," he said. Gallucci further called for resuming talks between the two Koreas, as well as between Pyongyang and Washington, which had been stalled. "Fundamentally change the relationship between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington; only after we do that, will we have a realistic chance of persuading the DPRK to give up nuclear weapons," the professor said, referring to the Nort h by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Source: Yonhap News Agency