Washington: President Barack Obama has said that the suggestions from people like Donald Trump that nuclear weapons would help South Korea and Japan show a lack of understanding of the world.
Obama said such remarks show a lack of knowledge about foreign policy, nuclear policy and the Korean Peninsula.
"The person who made the statements doesn't know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean Peninsula or the world generally," Obama said at a news conference at the close of the Nuclear Security Summit.
When asked about the issue Friday night, Obama said the U.S. doesn't want someone in the Oval Office who doesn't recognize the potential trouble in such a development.
"It has prevented the possibilities of a nuclear escalation and conflict. You don't mess with that. It's an investment that rests on the sacrifices that our men and women made (in World War II). We don't want someone in the Oval Office who doesn't recognize how important that is," he added.
Trump told The New York Times last week he would be open to Japan and South Korea having their own atomic arsenals as a deterrent to North Korea.
Obama noted that Trump's comments came up during discussions with leaders at the nuclear summit in Washington. He said that even countries that are used to a "carnival atmosphere" in their politics want "sobriety and clarity" in U.S. elections.
