January 24, 2023
In an article for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Lauren Sukin said South Korea has “officially put its nuclear option on the table, for the first time since 1991,” making it a “new nuclear proliferation problem” for the United States.
Conservatives in South Korea have occasionally expressed support for having a nuclear arsenal. Sukin, an assistant professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said such talk has now gone “mainstream.”
Support for the development of a South Korean nuclear arsenal was voiced by more than 70% of the country’s citizens last year. Such a move would lead to sanctions, but studies show that South Koreans do not view sanctions as a threat.
The July 2017 issue of The Socionomist anticipated that “a global negative social mood trend coupled with a global rise in nuclear fear will bring an increase in tests of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and even the expansion of stockpiles.” To better understand and monitor events such as these, sign up for a Socionomics Membership.
If you look closely, you can see patterns in social mood that help you predict social trends. Learn more with the Socionomics Premier Membership.
The Socionomist enables you to see trend-shaping waves of social mood, as reflected by the stock market — and capitalize on them. The April 2023 issue looks at negative social mood’s influence on the tumultuous history of the Mexican Revolution. Mood Riffs topics include President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects, challenges facing corporate giants, the new workplace trend known as Bare-Minimum Monday, and British Columbia’s effort to relax laws governing hard drugs. Read the April issue when you become a Socionomics Premier Member. 
