South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said today that within the framework of its alliance with the United States, the country is ready to retaliate of the strike if North Korea tries to carry out a nuclear attack against it, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
According to the American magazine "Newsweek" Yoon has also said that South Korea can rely on US nuclear weapons to defend the country and does not need its own.
„I believe it would be irrational for them to decide to launch a nuclear attack on the Republic of Korea, and if they do, the nuclear-based ROK-US alliance will immediately strike North Korea with an American nuclear weapon," was quoted by "Newsweek" to say President Yoon Suk-yeol.
North Korea sought a show of military might after it tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile, called the Hwasong-19, on October 31 amid accusations from Washington and Seoul that it has sent troops to help Russia in Ukraine.
The conservative Yoon has taken a tougher stance than his recent predecessors on North Korea, which continues to develop its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
Seoul is seeking to continue improving its relationship with Washington, building on a 70-year-old security alliance that has been in focus again since former US President Donald Trump won a second term in the White House.
Pyongyang and Seoul are de jure still at war, as their 1950-53 conflict ended only with an armistice but not a peace treaty, Reuters notes.