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South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo speaks at the Fullerton Forum in Singapore on Jan. 29. (provided by Ministry of Defense)

Minister of Defense Song Young-moo predicted on Jan. 29 that the North Korean regime “may be wiped off the map” if it uses nuclear weapons against the US or South Korea.

Song’s remarks came during the Fullerton Forum in Singapore that day in response to a question on the possibility of North Korea using nuclear weapons.

“That kind of situation is a propaganda strategy by the Kim Jong-un regime. We do not anticipate that it would actually happen,” Song added.

At the same time, Song added that South Korea was “obligated to consider hypothetical scenarios where North Korea uses nuclear weapons.”

“If there were to use a nuclear weapon against South Korea, North Korea would suffer retaliation with conventional weapons with more destructive power than any nuclear weapon,” he said.

Song also addressed the debate over whether tactical nuclear weapons should be redeployed in South Korea.

“That issue was completely resolved when I responded [before the National Assembly] that our denuclearization policy would be maintained,” he insisted.

“Instead, we are maintaining a system of cooperation in which North Korea’s nuclear capabilities can be fully suppressed with allied South Korea-US military capabilities and our trilateral intelligence capabilities with Japan,” he said.

The Fullerton Forum is seen as a preliminary meeting ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue (Asia Security Summit), an annual multilateral security meeting held by the United Kingdom’s International Institute for Strategic Studies. This year’s form was attended by military officials and experts from around 20 countries.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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