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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed drills by North’s tactical nuclear operation units on March 18-19, according to a March 20 report by state-run Korea Central News Agency. (KCNA/Yonhap)

On Sunday, North Korea announced it had launched a KN-23 tactical ballistic missile to test the operational reliability of its nuclear explosion control devices and nuclear warhead detonators, successfully detonating the device in the air above the ocean. Particularly concerning is how this missile puts the entire territory of the South within reach.

North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun reported that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, guided tactical drills simulating a tactical nuclear counterattack over the weekend.

An article posted by the paper on Monday stated that the present situation “urgently requires the DPRK to bolster up its nuclear war deterrence exponentially” and stressed the need for the North Korean forces to be “prepared in their active posture of making an immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack anytime.” DPRK is an abbreviation of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

According to the article, “a ballistic missile launching drill simulating a tactical nuclear attack was staged on Sunday morning,” and was followed by a “firing drill simulating a nuclear strike at a major enemy target.” The paper also noted that “the missile was tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead.”

“The tactical ballistic missile launched in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province accurately exploded at 800 meters above the target waters in the East Sea of Korea set in its 800 km strike range, thus proving once again the reliability of the operation of nuclear explosion control devices and detonators fitted in the nuclear warhead,” the article stated. In other words, it is claiming to have demonstrated the normal operation of nuclear warheads.

The article also conveyed Kim Jong-un’s views on the current situation, saying the North Korean leader is calling for “the DPRK to bolster up its nuclear war deterrence exponentially” amidst the ongoing ROK-US military drills.

Furthermore, Kim Jong-un was paraphrased as saying that it is possible to “fulfill the important strategic mission of war deterrence and reliably defend the sovereignty of the country [. . .] only when the nuclear force is perfected as a means actually capable of mounting an attack on the enemy and its nuclear attack posture for prompt and accurate activation is rounded off to always strike fear into the enemy.”

In addition to being interpreted as the North stating its intention to use tactical nuclear weapons against the South, some also point to these recent North Korean drills as a materialization of the “war deterrence” the North had called for in its nuclear use law enacted last September.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, however, maintains that North Korean claims of complete nuclear attack readiness require verifying and are laden with exaggeration.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer; Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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