Lee Jun-seok calls for South Korea's real voice in US-South Korea tactical nuclear talks

Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok argued in a contribution to Pacific Forum, a US foreign policy and security think tank, that South Korea must be guaranteed a genuine voice in discussions on US-South Korea tactical nuclear weapons and extended deterrence.

The Reform Party said Tuesday that Lee had used the Pacific Forum op-ed to urge a restructuring of the US-South Korea extended deterrence framework to reflect the rapidly shifting security environment in Northeast Asia, and to call for South Korea's meaningful participation in that process.

In the piece, Lee said the Nuclear Consultative Group, or NCG, must not be reduced to a body that merely receives notifications when the United States revises its nuclear employment guidance or reviews low-yield nuclear options. "A genuine seat at the table on matters directly tied to security on the Korean Peninsula is essential," he said.

Citing polling by the Reform Research Institute, Lee said 75.1 percent of South Koreans support the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons. He noted that the security environment has changed fundamentally since the 1991 denuclearization declaration, pointing to North Korea's six nuclear tests and its adoption of a preemptive nuclear doctrine. The same survey found that respondents' top priority was "strengthening the US nuclear umbrella and missile defense capabilities," at 36.3 percent — ahead of independent nuclear armament at 26.9 percent — indicating a preference for alliance-based deterrence over going it alone.

Lee also renewed his criticism of the NCG being reduced to a body informed of decisions after the fact. Referring to recent remarks by Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary of defense for policy, on reviewing low-yield nuclear capabilities and flexible nuclear options, Lee said sea-based nuclear assets such as the SLCM-N — a nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile — would have a decisive impact on South Korea's security even if they were not physically redeployed to the Korean Peninsula.

"As Washington reviews its nuclear employment guidance and expands the president's nuclear options, the NCG must not become a body that is simply notified of outcomes after the fact," Lee said. "South Korea must be guaranteed a genuine right to consultation and a seat at the table."

Lee also said nuclear policy must not waver with changes in government. "There is a need to build a bipartisan and sustainable US-South Korea security strategy that is not swayed by a change of administration in Washington or by political factionalism in South Korea," he said.