Korean Media: South Korea Worried About the Return of US Nuclear Weapons to the Korean Peninsula

[Global Times Special Correspondent Chen Shan] Recently, U.S. media reported that the Pentagon is revising its nuclear strategy, considering the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons "in the event of regional war with China or Russia." This sensational news has been gaining traction. The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported on the 10th that U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl, who leads the relevant policy, emphasized the importance of having "credible nuclear options" during a seminar at the U.S. Strategic Command, raising concerns about the terrifying consequences of the U.S. continually attempting to lower the threshold for nuclear weapon use.

According to reports, NBC disclosed on the 5th that the new U.S. nuclear strategy, led by Kahl, specifically mentions the use of low-yield tactical nuclear weapons. The website "Breaking Defense" obtained a recording of Kahl's speech during a closed-door meeting at Strategic Command on the 7th. He stressed the necessity of "credible nuclear options" and mentioned the growing focus on small tactical nuclear weapons and regional war issues. The report also noted that several senior U.S. officials stated that the Pentagon has begun to reassess the nuclear situation facing the U.S., with an emphasis on providing more options for the White House, "which may ultimately conclude that the U.S. needs to increase the number of tactical nuclear weapons."

The Korea Times expressed concern on the 9th about whether the U.S. would redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. Since the 1950s, the U.S. has deployed various nuclear weapons in South Korea. In 1991, then-President George H.W. Bush ordered the withdrawal of all tactical nuclear weapons from South Korea. However, the Pentagon's new strategy emphasizes the role of short-range tactical nuclear weapons in regional conflicts, raising doubts in Seoul, where there are fears that U.S. nuclear weapons may return to South Korea. South Korean experts also indicated that the U.S. military's approach to making nuclear weapons more practical would increase the risk of escalation on the Korean Peninsula.

Public information shows that among the U.S. military's active nuclear warheads, the majority are strategic nuclear warheads deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers, and strategic nuclear submarines. The U.S. publicly available nuclear warheads for tactical strikes include the B61-3, B61-4, and B61-12, which can be carried by fighter jets to strike specific battlefield targets. The latest B61-12 is equipped with a tail guidance component, significantly improving accuracy, with a yield adjustable between 300 tons and 50,000 tons, regarded as a new type of nuclear warhead that spans the gap between tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.

In fact, a series of actions by the U.S. military in recent years have been lowering the nuclear threshold. The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review released by the Pentagon clearly shifted the focus of nuclear strategy from counterterrorism and non-proliferation during the Obama era to addressing great power competition with China and Russia. To this end, the report proposed expanding the role of nuclear weapons in responding to "non-nuclear strategic attacks," thereby lowering the threshold for U.S. nuclear weapon use, which sparked significant controversy at the time. Starting from the end of 2019, the U.S. military began to equip some Trident submarine-launched intercontinental missiles with the W76-2 low-yield warhead with a yield of 5,000 tons, which is also seen as deliberately blurring the distinction between strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, aimed at lowering the nuclear threshold. During Trump's first term, he also planned to develop a new sea-based submarine-launched nuclear cruise missile to increase "regional deterrence options," but this project was terminated during the Biden administration.     

On the 9th, the Hong Kong Asia Times stated that the Pentagon's strategy regarding tactical nuclear weapons indicates that the U.S. military is no longer only considering "deterring large-scale strategic attacks," but also involves a broader range of "limited nuclear operational scenarios." However, tactical nuclear weapons often use dual-capable delivery platforms, which may blur the lines between conventional military operations and nuclear strikes, increasing the risk of accidental escalation to nuclear war.