Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) speaks during a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Feb. 13. Yonhap

Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Thursday caused a stir after he suggested that South Korea should recognize North Korea as a "nuclear state."

At a National Assembly forum to discuss measures to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis amid new geopolitical uncertainties, Park suggested a three-stage roadmap for achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

"In a situation where North Korea is advancing its nuclear capabilities, calls for South Korean nuclear armament cannot guarantee its security or gain support from the international community," he said.

"The initial step of the three-stage roadmap is to recognize North Korea as a nuclear state. The next step is to encourage North Korea to join the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the final step is to guarantee the North's regime security, lift economic sanctions and establish diplomatic relations with the U.S.," he said.

Park, who served as the director of the National Intelligence Service from July 2020 to May 2022 under the Moon Jae-in administration, said by doing so, South Korea can avoid being sidelined if talks between President Trump and Kim Jong-un resume.

His remarks follow a potential shift in U.S. policy toward North Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both referred to North Korea as a "nuclear power" in January.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) vehemently condemned Park's remarks, stating that the international community, including the United States, has never recognized North Korea as a nuclear state.

"His anti-national remarks undermine the nation's security and represent the interests of the North Korean regime. It is unacceptable for a member of the National Assembly, who should be leading efforts to protect South Korea's security, to advocate for the legalization of North Korea's nuclear armament," PPP spokesperson Rep. Shin Dong-wook said.

"North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear weapons in defiance of international sanctions. The moment we acknowledge them as a nuclear power, there will be a nuclear domino effect in Northeast Asia. North Korea will likely hold South Korea as a nuclear hostage."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a nuclear material production base and the Nuclear Weapons Institute at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Jan. 29, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Yonhap

The DPK quickly distanced itself from Park's comments, clarifying that they did not reflect the party's official position.

"It is unclear whether his remarks were about recognizing North Korea's nuclear capabilities or recognizing it as a nuclear state. The Trump administration's statement was not about granting nuclear status to Pyongyang, but rather acknowledging that it possesses nuclear capabilities," DPK spokesperson Rep. Jo Seoung-lae told reporters.

"In any case, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the party's goal. Some argue that we should also arm ourselves with nuclear weapons because North Korea has nuclear weapons. But that is a dangerous idea."

However, there has been a growing chorus of voices within the DPK supporting the idea of pursuing nuclear latency — the state of having the technical capabilities and resources needed for the development of nuclear weapons.

"I think we need to revise the U.S.-South Korea Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation to enable reprocessing uranium in spent nuclear fuel like Japan. I support embracing nuclear energy for peaceful use," DPK Rep. Park Sun-won said. "I think we need to possess some degree of nuclear potential if we want to take part in meaningful discussions about North Korean nuclear issues."