Policy Area: Nuclear Weapons

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CINCPAC Document on the Withdrawal of US Nuclear Weapons from Korean Peninsula

As a result of President Bush's unilateral disarmament initiatives in 1991, all U.S. nuclear weapons were withdrawn from South Korea. Yet U.S. authorities have never publicly confirmed the withdrawal from the Peninsula, and rumors have persisted -- particularly in North and South Korea -- that nuclear weapons might still be present.

This excerpt from the US Commander-in-Chief, Pacific (US CINCPAC) Command History for 1991 (Volume I, pages 90-93) provides the first known official confirmation of the fact and time period of the withdrawal.

Not only does it confirm the deployment in South Korea and the withdrawal, it also reveals that the transport of the weapons out of South Korea ""had highest priority for transportation assets, with weapon movements to commence before the next meeting of the ROK-U.S. Military Committee and Security Committee (MCM/SCM) scheduled for 20-22 November 1991.

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