Oh Se-hoon's 'Nuclear Armament Theory' Claim Draws Jeong Cheong-rae's Criticism: "Irresponsible Remarks... Stop Noise Marketing"

Oh Se-hoon "North Korea Won't Change Without Extreme Measures"
Jung Cheong-rae "Immature Claim... Truly Pitiful"

Jeong Cheong-rae, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has advocated for "nuclear armament" to eliminate North Korea's nuclear weapons, prompting Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, to criticize him on the 19th, calling it "reckless and irresponsible remarks."

Jeong opened his post on his Facebook that day by saying, "Saying that we will develop nuclear weapons ultimately means breaking the ROK-US alliance."

He explained, "After the United States removed tactical nuclear weapons during the Roh Tae-woo administration, South Korea came under the US nuclear umbrella and signed the ROK-US Atomic Energy Agreement," adding, "The core content of this agreement restricts the South Korean government from enriching or reprocessing nuclear fuel without prior consent or permission from the United States.

He continued, "If the United Future Party wants to advocate for nuclear armament, it is only proper to first abolish the ROK-US Atomic Energy Agreement."

Jeong further criticized, "Would the United States, already troubled by North Korea's nuclear weapons, allow South Korea to arm itself with nuclear weapons? If we proceed despite US opposition, are we prepared to endure economic sanctions like North Korea?"

Finally, he concluded, "(Former Mayor Oh) should stop this shallow noise marketing that does not help the national interest at all," adding, "It is truly pitiful to make such immature claims just to get a single news article."

Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. [Image source=Yonhap News]

That morning, former Mayor Oh appeared on KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs' and argued, "North Korea fundamentally has not the slightest intention of giving up its nuclear weapons. From our standpoint, unless we take extreme measures, North Korea will not change," advocating for considering the nuclear card.

He added, "The country with the greatest influence over North Korea is China, and we must move China to create a situation where North Korea might even consider nuclear disarmament," saying, "(Our government) starting to consider options such as directly developing nuclear weapons, negotiating with the US to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons, or European-style nuclear sharing will make China think very deeply."

Furthermore, former Mayor Oh said, "From the perspective of international political relations, the US is not in a position to easily allow our nuclear development, and redeploying tactical nuclear weapons could provoke conflicts with the four neighboring powers," but added, "However, if our government shifts to a stance where it is willing to consider any option to eliminate North Korea's nuclear weapons, only then can we use this as leverage to make North Korea and China change."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.