More South Koreans want to have its own nuclear weapons, survey says
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World
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More South Koreans want to have its own nuclear weapons, survey says

More South Koreans want to have its own nuclear weapons, survey says
Source:  Financial Times

In South Korea, public support for the idea of developing its own nuclear weapons is growing against the backdrop of deepening military cooperation between North Korea and the Russian Federation and the likely return of Donald Trump to power in the United States.

Points of attention

 

  • 66% of South Koreans support getting their own nuclear weapons.
  • The prime minister of South Korea rejects the possibility of creating nuclear weapons now, but there are politicians who support this option.
  • Russia and North Korea have been increasing cooperation, raising tensions in the region and prompting South Korea to consider nuclear weapons of its own.

More South Koreans want to have its own nuclear weapons, survey says

A recent poll found that 66% of South Koreans "agree" or "strongly agree" the introduction of nuclear weapons in the arsenal of their military. This is six percentage points more than last year.

Support for South Korea's acquisition of its own nuclear weapons is expanding and intensifying. Neither the government nor the two main parties have taken it up as a matter of policy, but calls to discuss the option are certainly growing louder, said Korea analyst Sangsin Lee.

As the Financial Times notes, South Koreans are concerned about North Korea's progress in developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, as well as Pyongyang's cooperation with Moscow and Donald Trump's open hostility to the US-South Korea alliance.

In June, South Korean Prime Minister Han Dak-soo said that the country was not considering developing nuclear weapons "at this time." But the conservative mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, a possible contender for the post of president in 2027, on the contrary, supports the idea of nuclear weapons.

Cooperation between Russia and North Korea

On June 19, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin flew to North Korea for the first time in 24 years and met with Kim Jong Un. Politicians signed documents that strengthen cooperation.

After that, the head of the national security department of the administration of the president of South Korea, Chang Ho-jin, said that Seoul will not be bound by anything in terms of helping Ukraine if Russia transfers high-precision weapons to North Korea.

Forbes wrote that Ukraine will be able to destroy Russian planes if it receives South Korean missiles.

Category
Politics
Publication date

Trump classified Spain as an ally of Russia — Madrid reacted

Trump made another serious mistake
Source:  AP

The new head of the White House, Donald Trump, has once again publicly disgraced himself - he mistakenly called Spain a BRICS member country and also began threatening it with tariffs.

Points of attention

  • Donald Trump made a mistake by calling Spain a BRICS member and threatening it with tariffs.
  • Against this backdrop, Madrid recalled its alliance with the United States.

Trump made another serious mistake

The new US president unexpectedly announced that Spain is part of the BRICS when a journalist asked him about NATO countries, such as Spain, that do not meet NATO's minimum defense spending of 2% of GDP.

What is important to understand is that BRICS was formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, later joined by South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.

First, Donald Trump started complaining that "Spain has very low defense spending," and then he decided to think about BRICS.

Spain is a BRICS country. Do you know what a BRICS country is? You will find out.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump

President of the United States

Moreover, the American leader once again threatened to impose tariffs on the BRICS countries.

According to Trump, he intends to impose at least a 100 percent tariff on the business they do with the United States.

How Spain responded to Trump's mistake and accusations

Interestingly, official Madrid does not hide its surprise after what the new head of the White House said.

Thus, the head of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Pilar Alegría, who is a government spokesperson, admitted that she does not understand why Trump made such a statement.

"I don't know if President Trump's statement was the result of confusion, but I can confirm that Spain is not a member of BRICS," the official noted.

Pilar Alegría pointed out that Spain has been a loyal member of NATO for the past four decades, and the Spanish government considers the US a "true ally."

Interestingly, this is not the first time Donald Trump has shocked the world with his mistakes. For example, during his first term, he confused China and North Korea.

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