Seoul is building its first public nuclear bunker as North Korea’s threats grow

A plan to construct South Korea’s first civic nuclear bunker in the country’s capital has raised eyebrows, as critics question both its practicality and potential to inflame public anxiety amid growing threats from the nuclear-armed North.

Seoul Metropolitan Government’s plan reflects both the growing unease over Pyongyang’s advancing nuclear arsenal and broader global instability, analysts say.

City officials have confirmed that the underground fallout shelter will be built beneath a new public housing complex in southeastern Seoul’s Songpa district by 2028.

Designed to withstand nuclear, chemical and biological attacks, the facility aims to offer refuge to up to 1,000 people for as long as two weeks in the event of a nuclear explosion, according to city planners.

North Korea unveils ‘most powerful nuclear strategic weapon’ capable of reaching all of US

North Korea unveils ‘most powerful nuclear strategic weapon’ capable of reaching all of US

Officials cited the shifting global security landscape, exemplified by the prolonged war in Ukraine, and North Korea’s accelerating weapons programme as the catalyst for the project.