President Yoon Suk Yeol said that it is in the national interest to comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT), dismissing calls for the country's nuclear armament. 

The president made the remarks in an interview broadcast on KBS on Wednesday. 

Yoon stressed that the country must further strengthen security as North Korea is neither logical nor reasonable, saying that the North has been attempting to turn South Korea into a communist state for more than 70 years. 

Regarding calls for South Korea to build nuclear weapons, Yoon said that although it would not take long for South Korea to do so due to its prowess in science and technology, the country would face various economic sanctions, which would strike a heavy blow to the economy, dismissing the idea as unrealistic. 

As for the country’s relations with Japan, Yoon said that regardless of court rulings on the victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor, bilateral relations have now been restored and are moving toward the future. 

On the trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan, the president said that it would be more meaningful for the three nations not just to cooperate in dealing with the North’s threats, but to demonstrate joint leadership for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the rest of the world. 

Regarding relations with China, Yoon said that he doesn’t think the basic national policy and diplomacy between South Korea and China are different, adding there are currently no particular problems in bilateral trade.