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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks to scientists standing in front of a silver, round-shaped object, presumed to be a mockup of a miniaturized nuclear warhead, in a photo published Wednesday by Pyongyang's Rodong Sinmun. / Yonhap |
Credibility questioned by South Korea military officials
By Jun Ji-hye
North Korea said Wednesday that it has miniaturized and standardized nuclear warheads to fit on its ballistic missiles, and therefore has "true" nuclear deterrence.
The North published photos of a silver round-shaped object, presumed to be a mockup of a miniaturized nuclear warhead, and several KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in the Rodong Sinmun, the state's main newspaper.
However, military officials in South Korea and the United States questioned the credibility of these claims, saying that there is no clear evidence that Pyongyang has developed a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a ballistic missile.
Commentators on North Korean issues say that Pyongyang is ratcheting up its nuclear threats in an apparent effort to prevent its citizens becoming agitated about the sanctions imposed by the international community against the regime, as well as the ongoing Seoul-Washington joint annual drills.
"The nuclear warheads have been standardized to be fit for ballistic missiles by miniaturizing them," North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was quoted as saying by Pyongyang's state-run media, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). "This can be called a true nuclear deterrent."
It reported that Kim made the remarks during a meeting with nuclear scientists and technicians, without clarifying when and where the meeting took place.
Officials here assume that Kim might have made the statements around Monday when South Korea and the United States began the mostly computer-simulated Key Resolve, and Foal Eagle — a combined field training drill — exercises, given that Kim stressed the significant improvement of the regime's nuclear capabilities, directly commenting on the country's advances in miniaturizing nuclear warheads.
The Kim Jong-un regime has made efforts to develop a nuclear-tipped ICBM believed to have a range of more than 10,000 kilometers, and is constantly arguing that it has mastered the technology to put a nuclear weapon on its KN-08 ICBM capable of striking the U.S. mainland.
However, such claims have not been verified by outside experts.
The Ministry of National Defense said that the North's latest claims also seem to be unreliable, noting that a claimed mobile ICBM missile has not been flight tested.
"Both South Korea and the U.S. have yet to secure intelligence that the North has mounted nuclear warheads on its ballistic missiles," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "We have yet to detect any relevant data."
He added that the ministry's existing analysis that the North has reached a considerable level to make nuclear warheads small enough to mount on ballistic missiles but has yet to master such technology remains unchanged
"The round-shaped object is also seen as a mockup rather than a real miniaturized nuclear warhead," the official said.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh also said Tuesday that the North is not believed to have mastered the technology to fit a nuclear warhead onto a long-range missile yet.
Experts said Pyongyang's latest claims show the regime's anxiety to the ongoing allies drills with American B-2 stealth bombers, a nuclear submarine and the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John C. Stennis.
"It is rare for Kim Jong-un to directly and concretely comment on the North's advances in its nuclear capability," Chang Yong-seok, a senior fellow at the Institute for Peace and Unification affiliated with Seoul National University, told reporters. "It shows that the North is taking the ongoing Seoul-Washington joint drills very seriously."
Other experts also noted that the North is trying to counter the new U.N. resolution sanctions as well as achieve a devaluation of international society's assessment of the North's nuclear capability by ratcheting up its nuclear threats.
On March 2, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted for Resolution 2270 that imposes the harshest sanctions yet on the Kim Jong-un regime after it conducted a fourth nuclear test, Jan. 6, and a long-range rocket launch, Feb. 7.
The North first unveiled the KN-08 in a military parade in April 2012 during celebrations of the 100th birthday of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un. However, analysts concluded that it was a mock prototype, given that it has not been flight tested.
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