As N Korea ramps up missile tests, South Korean president says it has 'nothing to gain from nuclear weapons'

As North Korea threatens to beef up its nuclear capabilities, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that the nation has nothing to gain from it.

"North Korea is consistently developing and upgrading its nuclear weapons and posing nuclear threats to not only our Republic of Korea but the world," Yoon told reporters, referring to South Korea by its official name.

"I believe it has nothing to gain from nuclear weapons."

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He further vowed to build "robust capabilities" through an alliance with the US and trilateral security cooperation that includes Japan to counter the North's threats.

South Korea's main opposition chief has accused the President of pursuing a "pro-japan defence policy" that might end up with Japanese forces stationed in the nation. Due to Japan's 35 years of colonial rule over South Korea from 1910-45, military cooperation with the nation remains a sensitive issue.

Yoon however dismissed the opposition's statement and said that such concerns cannot be "justified in the face of nuclear threats."

In response to recent joint naval manoeuvres between South Korean and American forces featuring an aircraft carrier, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, according to the country's official media, KCNA, has directed nuclear tactical exercises directed against South Korea over the past two weeks.

The recent flurry of missile tests was part of those exercises. As per KCNA, they were a simulation with mock nuclear heads.

North Korea's increasingly explicit nuclear threats as per Reuters have triggered an uproar in the South, with some leaders and experts calling for redeploying of US tactical nuclear arms.

Yoon too had earlier advocated a redeployment during his election campaign, reports Reuters, however the leader later backtracked. He claimed that he is in consultation on the issue in Seoul and Washinton but declined further comments.

(With inputs from agencies)

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