U.S. lawmakers push for tactical nukes in S. Korea
The Korea Herald
May 13, 2012
A U.S. congressional committee is pressuring the Obama administration to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.
The House Armed Services Committee, dominated by Republicans, approved an amendment to the fiscal 2013 national defense authorization bill Thursday that calls for the re-introduction of the sensitive weapons to South Korea, according to Foreign Policy magazine.
It also would require Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to submit a report on the feasibility and logistics of redeploying nuclear weapons to South Korea, added the magazine.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), who reportedly sponsored the amendment, and his staff were not available to confirm the report.
“We in the last many years have appealed to China to help us negotiate with North Korea to bring them in line in the quest for peace in the world… China has now embarked on selling nuclear components to North Korea,” Franks was quoted as saying in the committee’s markup.
The North has carried out two underground nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, and is suspected to be preparing for a third.
Some South Korean conservatives have also raised the issue of redeploying U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea to counter the North’s missile and nuclear threats. …
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