South Korea is now considering the use of nuclear weapons, after receiving numerous threats from neighboring North Korea.
According to CNN, a poll was taken in South Korea to find out which citizens were for or against a nuclear weapons program. The results proved that 2/3 of those surveyed were in agreement with such a measure.
Prior to the recent sign of support for a program, discussing the possibly of having their own nuclear weapons had been "taboo." However with the pressure from North Korea that soon changed.
"We, the Korean people, have been duped by North Korea for the last 20 to 30 years and it is now time for South Koreans to face the reality and do something that we need to do," Chung Mong-joon, a lawmaker in the governing Saenuri (New Frontier) Party and a former presidential conservative candidate, said according to CNN. "The nuclear deterrence can be the only answer. We have to have nuclear capability."
CNN also cited a third nuclear test conducted by North Korea. South Korea responded by creating a missile that they said could hit "a specific window of a North Korean military commander's office."
"If North Korea is to attack the South with its nuclear weapons... Kim Jong Un's regime will cease to exist on the face of Earth," said Kim Min-seok, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman.
China, an economic partner with South Korea, does not support the idea of their partner being armed with nuclear weapons.
Yang Zhaohui, an international relations professor at Pekin University, said an armed South Korea will "affect Sino-U.S. ties."
On the other hand China, who has been North Korea's "closest" ally, does not agree with the goals of leader Kim Jong Uh.
Yang explained that North Korea is losing popularity in China.
"China appears to be getting impatient with North Korea" he told CNN. "But China's priority is peace and stability in the region."
