If the U.S. government had never committed that illegal act in the first place — that is, if it hadn’t intervened in the Korean War, it is a virtual certainty that North Korea would never have acquired nuclear weapons. That’s because the only reason it acquired nukes in the first place was to deter a U.S. regime-change operation against North Korea, especially one involving a U.S. invasion of the country. Since a nuking of South Korea would obviously interfere with a reunification of the country and even might radiate much of North Korea, North Korea would have had no incentive to acquire nuclear weapons but for the U.S. government’s illegal intervention and presence in South Korea.
https://www.fff.org/2019/03/01/national-security-statism-and-north-koreas-nukes/
