Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon endorsed the idea that South Korea should acquire its own nuclear weapons to bolster defenses against North Korea this week, even at the risk of international repercussions.

Oh’s comments in an interview with Reuters were not the first time he has argued for the ROK’s nuclear armament, but they were his most explicit to date and added fuel to the fire of a debate that President Yoon Suk-yeol began earlier this year.