North Korea’s Next Submarine May Make Nuclear Talks Even Harder

[Rufus Shinra]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

ROK has a favourable military balance against DPRK even if we account for DPRK non strategic nuclear options as force multipliers. So in a sense ROK does not need nuclear weapons for warfighting or deterring an invasion.

It does not *need* them per se, but having a balance of terror makes relations much more polite and courteous altogether. I doubt many neighbours would protest much if SK acquired nuclear-tipped SRBM in a relatively transparent program (AKA if they allowed Chinese and Japanese inspections of the program to reassure both of them about the missiles' capabilities).