| Summary/Abstract |
This paper reviews the current state of South Korean nuclear preparedness and
draws out some necessary tasks for the future. It reviews all available options that a
non-nuclear, threatened country should take in response to the level of the nuclear
threat. These are a diplomatic approach, a preventive strike, deterrence, defense,
civil defense, and negotiations. In conclusion, South Korea has depended too much
on diplomatic solutions in the initial periods of the North Korean nuclear weapons
development. It did not review defense measures in depth and did not consider
the preventive strike option during that period. South Korea procrastinated on its
Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) construction and did not review the necessity of
nuclear civil defense until the present. South Korean nuclear preparedness appears
to have many shortcomings. South Korea should expedite and improve its BMD
shield as soon as possible. It may need to utilize the preemptive strike capabilities of
the United States to provide more money for its BMD. It needs to prepare nuclear
blast and/or fall-out shelters by efficiently renovating existing conventional shelters
and other underground facilities.
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