South Korean president rows back alarming nuclear weapons claim

South Korea’s ‘realistic and rational option is to fully respect the NPT regime’, says president

South Korea’s president Yoon Suk-yeol attends the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has said that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in a U-turn on his recent remarks about Seoul acquiring its own nuclear weapons.

"I can assure you that the Republic of Korea’s realistic and rational option is to fully respect the NPT regime," Mr Yoon said, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The South Korean president said he is “fully confident about the US’s extended deterrence," speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.