Nuclear

South Korea first became interested in nuclear technology in the 1950s, but did not begin construction of its first power reactor until 1970. [4] South Korea currently has 21 civilian nuclear power reactors in use, for an estimated net electricity capacity of just over 18,716 MW(e)—providing for about 40 percent of the country's electricity. [5] Changes in the international security environment influenced South Korea's decision to begin a nuclear weapons program in the early 1970s. Under significant pressure from the United States, however, Seoul abandoned this program and signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in April 1975 before it had produced any fissile material. [6] Seoul is a state party to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Zangger Committee. [7]

In November 1991, President Roh Tae-woo declared that South Korea would not "manufacture, possess, store, deploy, or use nuclear weapons." [8] Two months later, North and South Korea signed the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In this agreement, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed not "to test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons," and not to "possess nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment facilities." However, both sides failed to implement the agreement's provisions relating to a bilateral inspection regime. Although North Korea has clearly violated the Joint Declaration, particularly in light of its two nuclear weapons tests (in 2006 and 2009), South Korea has never officially renounced its obligations under the declaration, and has called on the North to abide by the agreement. Seoul has been a participant in the Six-Party Talks since their inception in 2003, which are aimed at ending the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

In March 2012 South Korea will host the second Nuclear Security Summit.

Biological

While South Korea possesses a well-developed pharmaceutical and biotech infrastructure, there is no evidence that Seoul has an offensive biological weapons (BW) program. Citing a biological threat from North Korea, South Korea conducts defensive BW research and development, including the development of vaccines against anthrax and smallpox. [9] South Korea ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in June 1987 and joined the Australia Group in October 1995. [10]

Chemical

South Korea ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in April 1997. Upon its ratification of the treaty, South Korea — according to many reliable sources — declared possession of several thousand metric tonnes of chemical warfare agents and one chemical weapons production facility to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Despite the fact that Seoul is widely understood to have declared its CW stockpile and facilities, neither the OPCW nor Seoul has publicly acknowledged this declaration. The South Korean government has maintained a high level of secrecy regarding its previous chemical weapons activities, making no public announcements and requiring the OPCW to refer to it in all documents as "another state party" or "an unnamed state party." However, media reports indicate that pursuant to its CWC obligations, the South Korean military built and operated a CW destruction facility to eliminate all CW munitions at a site in Yeongdong Chungcheong (충청북도 영동군). [11]

Under the CWC, South Korea was obligated to eliminate its CW stockpile by April 2007. South Korea requested an extension on that deadline from the OPCW, reportedly citing a number of technical difficulties in the operation of its destruction facility. South Korea completed the destruction of its entire chemical weapons stockpile in July 2008, becoming the second CWC member to do. [12]

Missile

In December 1971, South Korean President Park Chung-hee (박정희) issued a directive to reverse-engineer the U.S. Nike Hercules air defense missile, a system that can also be used as a surface-to-surface system. Following several failures, South Korea's first successful test of its own version, the Baekgom (백곰) system, was conducted in September 1978. In 1979, South Korea entered into a bilateral agreement with the United States that limited South Korean ballistic missiles to a range of 180km with a 500kg payload. [13] The Baekgom program was slashed in December 1982, but was restored in late 1983. South Korea subsequently developed an improved version of the Baekgom, called the Hyonmu (현무). South Korea joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in March 2001; membership in the organization supersedes the missile-range agreement concluded earlier with Washington. [14] In January 2002, South Korea announced procurement of the 300km-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) from the United States, purchasing 110 ATACMS by 2004. [15]

In the 1990s, Seoul began development of its own space program, including the development of a space-launch vehicle (SLV). After numerous delays, South Korea launched the two-stage KSLV-1 rocket on 25 August 2009. The launch was intended to place an earth and atmospheric monitoring satellite—the Science and Technology Satellite-2 (STSTAT-2)—into orbit. The satellite reached an altitude of about 390km, but could not maintain an orbit; it was destroyed during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. [16] The partial success of this launch raised concerns that South Korea had sufficient technology for a long-range ballistic missile system that could deliver WMD payloads.

Sources:
[1] Daniel A. Pinkston, "South Korea's Nuclear Experiments," CNS Research Story, 9 November 2004, http://cns.miis.edu.
[2] "Status of Multilateral Arms Regulation and Disarmament Agreements," UNODA, www.un.org/disarmament.
[3] Chris Schneidmiller, "South Korea Completes Chemical Weapons Disposal," Global Security Newswire, 17 October 2008, www.nti.org.
[4] Ha Yeong-seon, 한반도의 핵무기와 세계질서 [Nuclear Weapons on the Korean Peninsula and World Order], (Seoul: Nanam, 1991).
[5] "Nuclear Power in South Korea," World Nuclear Association, March 2011, http://world-nuclear.org.
[6] Daniel A. Pinkston, "South Korea's Nuclear Experiments," CNS Research Story, 9 November 2004, http://cns.miis.edu.
[7] "Status of Multilateral Arms Regulation and Disarmament Agreements," UNODA, www.un.org/disarmament; "Who are the Current NSG Participants?," Nuclear Suppliers Group, www.nuclearsuppliersgroup.org; and "Members," Zangger Committee, 13 January 2010, www.zanggercommittee.org.
[8] Roh Tae Woo, "President Roh Tae Woo's Declaration of Non-Nuclear Korean Peninsula Peace Initiatives," 8 November 1991.
[9] "2006 Defense White Paper," Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense, May 2007, p. 26, www.mnd.go.kr.
[10] "Status of Multilateral Arms Regulation and Disarmament Agreements," UNODA, www.un.org/disarmament; and "Australia Group Participants," www.australiagroup.net.
[11] "Report: Korean army built factory to destroy chemical weapons," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 9 May 2000.
[12] Chris Schneidmiller, "South Korea Completes Chemical Weapons Disposal," Global Security Newswire, 17 October 2008, www.nti.org.
[13] Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., "A History of Ballistic Missile Development in the DPRK," CNS Occasional Paper, 9 February 2000, http://cns.miis.edu.
[14] "MTCR Partners," www.mtcr.info.
[15] "South Korea: Seoul Contracts for U.S.-Made Missiles," Global Security Newswire, 4 January 2002, www.nti.org.
[16] Kim Tong-hyung, "Satellite Fails to Enter Orbit," Korea Times, 25 August 2009.