North Korea presented its new atomic warheads on Tuesday, smaller than the previous ones, during an inspection by its leader, Kim Jong Un, while announcing new tests. The state agency KCNA published three important pieces of information that converge on the same idea: Pyongyang is designing more and more types of nuclear weapons that can be used in the vicinity of its territory.
The regime is thus issuing an increasingly unequivocal warning after having cried out against the large military maneuvers that Seoul and Washington are carrying out these days near its border, exercises that exceed in scale anything seen before on the peninsula and that Pyongyang considers a rehearsal to invade their territory. On the occasion of the maneuvers, a US cargo ship arrived in South Korea today.
KCNA to Kim’s visit to the Pyongyang Nuclear Weapons Research Institute where he “acquainted himself” with “the technical specifications of new tactical nuclear weapons.” Photos from the visit show for the first time models of North Korean atomic warheads, dubbed Hwasan-31, designed to be fitted into short-range projectiles.
According to experts, the images could indicate progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads that are powerful but small enough to be mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States. “They have a bit more power in a smaller space. That’s worrisome,” said Kune Y. Suh, emeritus professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, comparing the new nuclear warheads to the 2016 version.
George William Herbert, adjunct professor at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, agreed with this assessment, for whom the photos showed “a significant improvement in size compared to previous North Korean nuclear weapons, and possibly an advance In the design”.
The leader urged those responsible for the institution to intensify the production of “nuclear materials for military use” and “the manufacture of powerful nuclear weapons” with a view to “increasing in geometric progression the possession of these devices.”
Kim was also briefed on an integrated nuclear weapons management computer system called Haekbangashoe, meaning “nuclear trigger,” whose accuracy, reliability and safety were verified during recent nuclear counterstrike drills.
Along with the “Hwasal-31” (“Volcano-31”) warheads, appear three of the weapon systems that the regime has repeatedly tested in recent months, and with particular insistence in recent days: the Hwasal-31 strategic cruise missiles. 1 and Hwasal-2 and KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles.
In this sense, the North Korean news agency also reported that the two KN-23s that the regime fired on Monday were “equipped with simulated nuclear warheads” and that they exploded about 500 meters above the simulated target on an islet off the city of Kim Chaek, on the northeast coast, as photos from the rehearsal show.
Since the allies’ big spring exercises began, Pyongyang has carried out several tests of missiles that detonate when flying over their target simulating nuclear atmospheric explosions, a clear message that it will not hesitate to use short-range atomic weapons if necessary.
The North Korean military simulated a nuclear explosion with two tactical ballistic missiles during training on Monday, while retesting its underwater drone capable of generating radioactive tsunamis. The test of this guided torpedo was carried out between March 25 and 27, according to the state agency KCNA.
All of these activities came as a US carrier strike group led by the USS Nimitz is about to arrive at a naval base in South Korea on Tuesday after conducting joint military exercises the previous day. Kim Jong Un stated that the enemy of the country’s nuclear forces is not a specific state or group, but “the war and the nuclear disaster itself”, and that the North Korean arsenal expansion policy is solely aimed at defending the country and regional peace and stability.
The underwater drone, which KCNA refers to as “Haeil-1” (“Tsunami-1”), was tested off the east coast and detonated its dummy head in the target area after traveling 600 kilometers following an “irregular and elliptical” course. for 41 hours and 27 minutes. The objective of these systems launched from a submarine or other platforms is to penetrate coastal waters and cause a great radioactive wave that will wipe out entire fleets, destroy ports and other infrastructure, and cause terrible damage to coastal regions.
On the other hand, Seoul affirmed yesterday that it doubts the capabilities of this drone, similar to the Russian Poseidon, and assured that it considers that it is in a very early development phase. Many experts have considered it unlikely that Pyongyang has managed, with the technology at its disposal, to perfect such a weapon, given the high complexity it requires. In any case, a more rudimentary system than the Russian one poses a potential threat to the ports of neighboring South Korea or Japan, as well as to the US naval bases in both countries.
