South Korea and weapons of mass destruction

Common card · No. 428770

The United States stationed various nuclear weapons and their delivery systems in South Korea between 1958 and 1991. South Korea actively pursued a nuclear weapons program from 1970 to 1981, primarily under military dictator Park Chung Hee. South Korea signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1975 but conducted illegal nuclear weapons-related experiments until 2000. South Korea benefits from the United States' nuclear umbrella as part of the countries' close alliance. South Korea is a ratifier of the Biological Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention, disposing of its Cold War-era chemical weapons stockpile by 2008. South Korea's policy on weapons of mass destruction is heavily influenced by its perception of North Korea's nuclear and chemical weapons. South Korea has the resources, equipment, and technical ability to quickly develop a nuclear weapons capability, a status known as nuclear latency. This includes an advanced nuclear power industry, and the Hyunmoo series of ballistic...

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