The loss of faith in America’s ability to protect its allies may soon become an epidemic if reports emerging from South Korea are any indication. According to a recent poll in the country conducted by the Chicago Council, nearly three-fourths of South Koreans support the need for the country to develop its own nuclear weapons.

In the crosshairs of the belligerent North, South Korea has since 1975 ~ when it ratified the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty ~ relied on the United States to provide security from its nuclear-armed neighbour. But America’s cynical abandonment of Afghanistan last year may have convinced South Koreans ~ a whopping 71 per cent of them ~ that Washington is an opportunistic ally, and that they may be left to fend for themselves if their security needs do not align with those of the Americans.

Events in eastern Europe of the past few days, when the West appeared to lead on Ukraine only to leave it at Russia’s mercy may harden the resolve of the Korean people. When the Americans withdrew from the peninsula in 1971, South Korea had announced plans to develop nuclear weapons. But under American pressure, it abandoned the programme, although there have been sporadic reports of the country’s scientists working to enrich plutonium to weapons-grade.

In 1991, the Americans withdrew all nuclear weapons they had deployed in South Korea as part of an executive decision to not deploy such weapons overseas. But there have been frequent demands ~ fuelled by Pyongyang’s increasing belligerence ~ to ask the US for a fresh deployment. In parallel, the South seems determined to give a boost to its rocket programme. While the development is said to be part of its space programme, the technology is vital for defence purposes as well.

Despite having failed with its attempt last October, the country has announced plans to try again in June. Seoul has let it be known that the Nuri rocket will lift off on 15 June, about one month later than scheduled as more time is required to fix technical glitches. Such red herrings across the trail have been attributed to the previous flight’s failure to put what they call a “dummy satellite” into orbit. The South’s ministry of science has explained that it “requires around an additional month to effect such technical improvements, and to assemble the first, second and third stages of the flight model and to install the satellite.

It bears recall that in October last year, South Korea had launched its first home-grown space rocket ~ also known as KSV-II. It flew to a target altitude of 700 km, but eventually failed to posit a dummy satellite into orbit as its third-stage engine had burned out earlier than expected. It was clear on Friday that South Korea has acknowledged the deficiencies that had plagued the operational stage. It has a little over three months to rectify the technical glitches and to ensure that the launch is successful.