Early Nuclear Ambitions
When United States notified its plan to withdraw USFK in 1970 July, South Korea first considered the possibility of Independent Nuclear Program. Under the direction of South Korea's Weapons Exploitation Committee, the country attempted to obtain plutonium reprocessing facilities following the pullout of the 26,000 American soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division in 1971. After South Vietnam had fallen in April 1975, then South Korean president, Jung-hee Park first mentioned about its nuclear weapons aspiration during the press conference on 12 June 1975. However, under pressure from the United States, France eventually decided not to deliver a reprocessing facility to South Korea in 1975. South Korea's nuclear weapons research program effectively ended on April 23, 1975 with its ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Read more about this topic: South Korean Nuclear Research Programs
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