Seoul’s official position is that it does not seek to develop or acquire its own indigenous nuclear weapons. Instead, its official goal remains the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and it aims to cooperate with international partners, such as the U.S. and China, to achieve that goal.

However, increasing discussion about South Korea’s hypothetical acquisition of some form of nuclear deterrence among ROK policymakers and commentators means that Seoul will find it increasingly difficult to ignore public opinion.

Beijing is particularly concerned with this development because many of the voices calling for a South Korean nuclear weapons program have not