This would be a
revolutionary step, overturning half a century of opposition to nuclear
capability. South Korea has committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"It
will become a domino effect and even South Korea will become concerned and
develop nuclear weapons, and maybe Japan as well," according to a senior
official in the Seoul government.
"This
will all lead to a big security threat," the director-general for
reunification policy in the Ministry of Unification, Lee Duk-haeng, told
Fairfax Media.
"For
Australia this is not a distant problem."
The
dictatorship of Kim Jong-un conducted its fourth underground nuclear test in
January in breach of UN Security Council orders.
And it
continues to test ballistic missiles, most recently last Wednesday, also a
breach of UN Security Council resolutions.
The policy
of the South Korean government is opposed to the development of nuclear arms,
but the matter is now under lively debate as North Korea persists in its
illegal plans.
Like other
US allies including Japan and Australia, South Korea enjoys the protection of
the US nuclear arsenal, so-called extended nuclear deterrent.
But the US
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called this into question.
Mr Trump has
said that he is prepared to walk away from the long-standing US alliances with
Tokyo and Seoul unless they pay more towards the cost of the US bases on their
soil.
He has also
said that it might not be a bad thing for South Korea and Japan to develop the
bomb, directly contradicting half a century of US non-proliferation policy.
The UN
Security Council declared tough new sanctions against North Korea in March.
However, Mr
Lee expressed concern that China might not be enforcing them strictly.
Beijing is
Pyongyang's only ally and its dominant trading partner.
"Of
course, China has been honouring its promise to conduct the UN sanctions and
doing as it's supposed to do.
"But
China-North Korea relations go way back and if there are areas beyond the
sanctions, one concerning point is that China could be finding some way behind
the scenes of supporting North Korea."
The
sanctions do not apply to humanitarian aid or to materials required for daily
living.
The
potential to use these categories to conduct trade with the Kim regime
"can be a point of concern", Mr Lee said.
An estimated
90 per cent of all North Korean trade is conducted with China, with which it
shares a land border.
Mr Lee
called on all regional governments, including Australia's, to take a
"stern" approach to isolate North Korea over its nuclear development.
Australia
has taken recent new sanctions against Pyongyang. And the acting Foreign
Affairs Minister, George Brandis, this week announced that "Australia
stands ready to list additional individuals and entities associated with the
regime's weapons and missile technology activities".
In February,
South Korea responded to the persistent North Korean nuclear development by
opening discussions with the US to install an American missile interception
system.
China has
reacted furiously to Seoul's decision to deploy the so-called Terminal High
Altitude Area Defence or THAAD.
Beijing last
week began punishing South Korea by imposing undeclared trade sanctions on the
country's surging cultural exports, the so-called K-Wave products, in the
movie, TV, and music sectors.
Peter
Hartcher Sydney Morning Herald
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