By columnist Pastor Kim Jin-hong

On Jan. 11, President Yoon Suk-yeol made a statement that South Korea can make nuclear weapons on its own. This remark is a hot topic at home and abroad.

President Yoon's remarks do not mean that South Korea will make nuclear weapons unconditionally, but with the following conditions. If there is no solution to North Korea's nuclear threat, he said he would either introduce strategic U.S. nuclear weapons or manufacture nuclear weapons on its own.

Pastor Kim Jin-hong
Pastor Kim Jin-hong

According to President Yoon's remarks on the day, our engineers can produce and deploy nuclear weapons without difficulty. Of course, the U.S. side opposed the remarks. However, when North Korea has completed the ICBM and Kim Jong-un publicly says that nuclear weapons can be used as a preemptive strike against South Korea, we cannot just look at the U.S. without any proper countermeasure.

When France tried to make nuclear weapons, the U.S. side strongly opposed it. The U.S. side's opinion was that France doesn't have to make nuclear weapons when the U.S. is protecting it with a nuclear umbrella. But then-French President de Gaulle said that if the U.S. opposes the Soviet Union’s use of nuclear weapons in Paris, would the United States be responsible for threatening to use nuclear weapons?

A few days ago, North Korea sent five drones to South Korea to take pictures of the president's office, causing a stir in the country. It won't happen, but if North Korea sends a small nuclear or biochemical weapon by using such a drone, it will get out of control. So I totally agree with President Yoon's nuclear statement. We cannot leave our security in the hands of other countries. When there is a determination to protect our home of life on our own, our wife and children can sleep soundly. On that basis, the Korea-U.S. alliance should be firmly established.

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