Why South Korea Shouldn’t Build Its Own Nuclear Bombs
Lauren Sukin and Toby Dalton | War on the Rocks
Are nuclear weapons the answer to Seoul’s security challenges? Amidst a flurry of North Korean nuclear-capable missile testing and persistent stresses in the U.S.-South Korean security alliance, conservative candidates in South Korea’s presidential primaries have called on the United States to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. Some have even argued that South Korea should “independently seek nuclear armament” if the United States does not agree to redeploy. These views found support from two American academics, Jennifer Lind and Daryl Press, who contend in a provocative Washington Post op-ed that South Korean nuclear weapons may be “the only way” to save the alliance. Arguing for allied proliferation is a highly unusual policy prescription. In contrast, we believe that South Korean nuclear acquisition would be counterproductive and dangerous, leaving both the alliance and South Korean security worse off.
Iran’s Enrichment to High Levels at Natanz Plant Is Expanding, IAEA Says
Francois Murphy | Reuters
Iran is expanding its enrichment of uranium beyond the highly enriched threshold of 20% purity at a Natanz plant where it is already enriching to 60%, but the new activity does not involve keeping the product, the U.N nuclear watchdog said on Monday. The move is likely to help Iran refine its knowledge of the enrichment process—something Western powers generally condemn because it is irreversible—but since this time the product is not being collected it will not immediately accelerate Iran’s production of uranium enriched to close to weapons-grade.
Latest US Military Hypersonic Test Fails
Oren Liebermann | CNN
A booster stack, which is the rocket used to accelerate the projectile to hypersonic speeds, failed and the test of the projectile, the hypersonic glide body, could not proceed, the statement said. Because the rocket failed the Pentagon was not able to test the hypersonic glide body, which is the key component needed to develop a hypersonic weapon. Officials have started a review of the test, which took place Thursday at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, to understand the cause of the booster failure.
US Urges N Korea to Stop Missile Tests and Return to Talks
Hyung-jin Kim | Associated Press
A senior U.S. diplomat on Sunday urged North Korea to refrain from additional missile tests and resume nuclear diplomacy, days after the North fired off its first underwater-launched ballistic missile in two years. Sung Kim, the U.S. envoy on North Korea, spoke after meeting with South Korean officials to discuss North Korea’s recent missile tests while nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang remain stalled.
U.N. Nonproliferation Talks to Be Held Jan. 4-28 in New York
Kyodo News
The next U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation will be held in New York from Jan. 4 to 28, the president of the gathering said Monday, after a postponement of more than a year and a half due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gustavo Zlauvinen, a former deputy Argentine foreign minister who will chair the upcoming review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, said in July that he would aim to arrange the conference schedule for January 2022 while assessing the coronavirus pandemic.
China’s Latest Missile Test Raises the Stakes for Biden’s Nuclear Weapons Review
Natasha Bertrand | CNN
China’s test of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile has given new fuel to critics of President Joe Biden’s ambitious agenda to scale back America’s nuclear arsenal, with intelligence and defense officials warning that the Chinese launch marked a significant technological leap that could threaten the US in new ways. News of the launch is coming to light publicly as the administration nears the end of its nuclear posture review. Biden’s national security team has been working toward a policy of increased restraint and more limited spending on nuclear modernization and production. The President has also been weighing a “no first use” policy for U.S. nuclear weapons, according to people familiar with the discussions.