SEOUL — Just hours into his second term in the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump spooked security circles in Seoul by formally referring to North Korea as a “nuclear power,” breaking all precedents set by Washington and raising the prospect of U.S. reengagement with Pyongyang that might abandon the pursuit of denuclearization on the peninsula.
Seoul’s response was swift, and another striking departure: Weeks later, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul declared that it was now “not off the table” for his country to need to develop its own nuclear weapons program.
