Faced with the North Korean threat, the South Korean president wants to deploy nuclear weapons on his soil

2022 will have been a year of extreme tension in the world. But while much attention is focused on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, other potential conflicts have rapidly developed throughout this year on the planet. This is the case of the island of Taiwan, the object of Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitions, but also from the Persian Gulf with the rise of Iranian military capabilities, or the Caucasus, with the fighting opposing Armenian and Azeri forces around Nagorno-Karabach.

But the most intense theater today is none other than the Korean peninsula, while North Korea has carried out no fewer than 88 ballistic missile launches of different models and ranges this year, most often around or at proximity to South Korean and Japanese territorial waters.

Equipped with nuclear weapons, Pyongyang has repeatedly shown that it was able to strike its neighbor, but also Japan, and suggest that it could, if necessary, strike American territories with its missiles. intercontinental. Furthermore, the new North Korean doctrine presented in December 2022 considers legitimate the use of tactical nuclear weapons, including in first intention.

In fact, containing the North Korean nuclear threat has become the obsession of the Blue House, the residence of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his government, but also of his American ally. The subject is also at the heart of discussions with Joe Biden, with a planned reinforcement of American resources dedicated to containing this threat in South Korea, and specific exercises around this threat between the US and South Korean armies.

At the same time, Seoul has acquireda specific doctrine, known as the 3-axis doctrine, to contain this threat, articulated around preventive strikes to eliminate North Korean launch sites in the event of imminent strikes, the interception of vectors sent by Pyongyang which would have escaped the preventive strikes, and finally, the elimination of the all North Korean critical sites and infrastructures to neutralize the command and support of the armies.

To this end, the South Korean armies are developing land, naval and air multiple strike capabilities, as well as advanced interception capabilities that can counter Pyongyang's missiles, in an unprecedented effort by the country for its own defense.

However, although relevant and obviously well-resourced, the 3-axis doctrine suffers from a critical structural weakness. Indeed, it can only work if the number of nuclear warheads and potential vectors in service in North Korea remains limited, so as to be able not only to strike or even intercept them, but above all, to be able to track them with sufficient precision and completeness to protect the country.

Today, according to sources, North Korea actually has 20 to 50 nuclear warheads, and around a hundred ballistic missiles capable of transporting them if necessary. However, in his New Year speech, the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, specifically promised to increase "exponentially", the number of nuclear warheads in the country. Is it in response to the announcements of his North Korean counterpart?

In any case, President Yoon Suk Yeol, for his part, declared that he intended to increase South Korea's defensive capabilities, even if it meant deploying nuclear weapons in the country, or even equipping itself with weapons. nuclear.

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