Richard Sokolsky, who served in the US State Department for 37 years, has suggested the Trump administration may also need to draw South Korea more closely into its nuclear planning if it wishes to keep “the South Korean nuclear genie in its bottle”.
He added that the US should only take such steps if it is ready to also take diplomatic initiatives with North Korea to prevent an escalation of tensions.
Mr Sokolsky said: “If left unaddressed, the growing existential angst of the South Korean public and political class over the rapidly growing North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threat has the potential to cause serious strains in the US-ROK alliance and hasten the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Asia Pacific.
“Unless the US takes more concrete and visible steps to demonstrate the continued viability of its nuclear umbrella than it has offered to date, the South Koreans may eventually decide to go their own nuclear way, with potentially disastrous consequences for peace and security in Northeast Asia and the future of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.”
The US Government has mentioned the idea of deploying extra “strategic assets” to South Korea and currently does have three aircraft carrier battle groups operating in the western Pacific.
However, polls have shown that 68 per cent of South Koreans support the reintroduction of US nuclear weapons in South Korea and 60 per cent are in favour of South Korea acquiring its own nuclear weapons.
Mr Sokolsky’s words have come as experts have warned there may not be enough time for South Korea to respond to a North Korean nuclear strike in a wartime scenario.
North Korea launched a new missile this week called the Hwasong-15 missile – a new type of device experts say is capable of hitting Washington.
The missile was launched from Pyongsong, about 20miles from Pyongyang.
South Korea responded swiftly by firing missiles, six minutes later, into the waters off eastern Korea to demonstrate Seoul’s readiness for war.
This was the first time the North used this missile site.
In a war scenario, North Korea is likely to take more steps to conceal its movements.
For example, the North may deploy decoy launchers which will make it difficult to pinpoint the exact launch site.
Analysts said North Korean officials install devices onto missiles that generate signals and send them to control towers.
The South has a way of tapping into these signals and tracking the missiles, they said.
But, in a real missile launch, the North Koreans may not choose to install them, according to deputy director of the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, Jo Dong-joon.
This means the South may have no way of tracking a hostile missile.