South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said his country could have the "technical foundation" for nuclear weapons within a year. However, he conceded that there would be "various values and interests we have to give up if we possess nuclear weapons."
South Korea pledged not to develop nuclear weapons in the Washington Declaration, which Yoon signed with United States President Joe Biden in exchange for US protection in case of a nuclear attack by North Korea. In a speech at the Harvard Kennedy School during his US trip, Yoon said the declaration is an upgraded version of the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty. "North Korea's nuclear weapons are not far away but the danger is right in front of us, and in a very specific way," he warned.
