Wed, Mar 29, 2023 page4

• Kim demands nuclear arms ramp-up

  ‘WEAPON GRADE’: North Korea should prepare to use nuclear weapons ‘any time and anywhere,’ Kim Jong-un said, as experts said Pyongyang is preparing a seventh test

  • AFP, SEOUL
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  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for his country to expand production of “weapon-grade nuclear materials” and build more powerful weapons, state media reported yesterday.

  Kim’s latest threat, a doubling-down on an earlier promise to “exponentially” ramp up nuclear production, came as a US Navy carrier strike group arrived in South Korea yesterday.

  Kim was briefed by officials from the nation’s nuclear weapons institute, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, and said North Korea should prepare to use the weapons “any time and anywhere.”

  

  A screen grab shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second left, inspecting nuclear warheads at an undisclosed location in an undated photograph.

  Photo: KRT / Reuters

  He called on officials to expand “the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials” needed for an “exponential” increase in the country’s arsenal.

  Kim also “put spurs to continuing to produce powerful nuclear weapons” that he said would strike fear into the country’s enemies, KCNA added.

  Photos carried by Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim, surrounded by uniformed officers, inspecting a row of purported tactical nuclear warheads identified as the “Hwasan-31” — which means “volcano” in Korean. The compact green warheads can be mounted onto different types of missiles, according to diagrams seen on the wall in the background.

  North Korea last year declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, and Kim recently called for an “exponential” increase in weapons production, including tactical nukes.

  North Korean state media yesterday released a flurry of nuclear-related reports, an indication the country was building up to a seventh nuclear test, analysts said.

  “North Korea unveiled a significantly miniaturized tactical nuclear warhead this time, and many are questioning whether it can really explode,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute.

  “The possibility that North Korea will carry out a seventh nuclear test with these tactical nuclear warheads as a next step has increased,” he said.

  Pyongyang has got into a pattern of “tit-for-tat” missile launches and tests to counter US and South Korean military exercises, which represents a huge — and unsustainable — financial outlay for the impoverished country, one expert said.

  “North Korea warned of overwhelming response against each South Korea-US joint training, but looking at the number of missiles fired, they can’t continue this forever,” said Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

  “If so, the seventh nuclear test will mark some kind of an end, they will declare themselves a nuclear power and they will turn to negotiating with the United States,” he said.

  The North Korean military on Monday also conducted a firing drill, simulating a nuclear attack using tactical ballistic missiles, KCNA said in a separate report, part of a record-breaking streak of tests.

  “North Korea is sending a very coherent message. They are fighting for recognition as a perfect nuclear power,” Park added.

  In addition to increasing its nuclear stockpile, the country is seeking to diversify its delivery mechanisms for the weapons.

  Yesterday, it claimed to have conducted a second successful test of a new underwater nuclear attack drone.

  The first test of the Haeil — which means tsunami in Korean — was allegedly carried out last week in what Pyongyang said was a response to recent US-South Korea military exercises, the largest in five years.

  Seoul has cast doubt on the claim, with the country’s military saying it was “weighing the possibility” the test had been exaggerated or even “fabricated.”

  There were some indications “North Korea is developing unmanned submarines, but it is evaluated that they are still in the early stages,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

  However, yesterday, Pyongyang said the Haeil had maneuvered underwater “for 41 hours and 27 minutes tracking a simulated route spanning 600 kilometers” before destroying a target off North Hamgyong province early on Monday, another KCNA report said.

  The test “proved all strategic qualifications, as well as safety and reliability in the weapons system,” KCNA said.
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