Lee Jong-seok, the proposed chief of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, on Thursday said he was confident that the United States would reciprocate with nuclear strikes if North Korea attacked the South using nuclear bombs.
Testifying at his confirmation hearing, Lee was questioned if Washington would attack North Korea even at the cost of an attack upon American soil, especially in a case when Pyongyang possesses intercontinental ballistic missiles which can target the U.S.
“Yes, that is my belief,” Lee answered, noting further that any nuclear attack against South Korea by the North would straightaway be involved with the U.S.-South Korea security alliance.
Lee has been chosen to head the nation’s spy agency under the new liberal regime of President Lee Jae Myung, who took office on June 4.
North Korea had been actively developing nuclear weapons for a long time and is estimated to have sufficient fissile material to make atomic warheads. But it has not yet carried out a test involving a missile tipped with a nuclear payload.