N. Korea parade sends message to US

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea sought to display its capability to miniaturize nuclear weapons and attack the United States during its military parade Saturday, analysts said Monday.

During the parade, marking the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party, North Korea appears to have shown off its ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons by showcasing modified ballistic missiles and soldiers carrying chest packs with nuclear symbols.

The Kim Jong-un regime claimed that the KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) were loaded with small and diversified nuclear warheads and that it had troops trained to infiltrate into enemy territory to launch nuclear attacks.

Experts said showing off the KN-08s was directly aimed at Washington because they are believed to be capable of traveling 12,000 kilometers and hitting the U.S. mainland.

“Kim Jong-un did not mention nuclear weapons during his 25-minute speech, apparently wary of China’s Liu Yunshan, who attended the event,” said Sejong Institute senior researcher Hong Hyun-ik.

“But the parade featured KN-08s as well as soldiers with nuclear packs, which apparently were intended to show off the North’s capability of miniaturizing nuclear weapons.

“This would be a message given to China that Washington is a public enemy of Beijing and Pyongyang.”

Liu Yunshan, No. 5 in China’s Workers’ Party, was the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit the isolated state since Kim came to power in late 2011.

Korea Defense Network president Shin In-kyun also said the North’s parade attempted to display Pyongyang’s capability of even engaging in a nuclear war with Washington.

“Kim Jong-un said the North’s forces were capable of dealing with any kind of war being waged by the U.S,” he said. “The U.S. is a nuclear superpower, so Kim’s remarks apparently meant a nuclear war.”

Korea Defense and Security Forum senior research fellow Kim Dae-young, said, “The North showed it was confident it could make nuclear weapons small enough to fit in chest packs.”

Developing miniaturized warheads is essential for intercontinental ballistic missiles to hit the U.S. mainland, he added.

But he said it was unclear whether the chest packs North Korean soldiers were wearing were real nuclear packs.

Experts noted that the North’s final goal was to be recognized as a nuclear-weapons state.

Military authorities said more analysis was needed to determine whether the North was capable of miniaturizing nuclear warheads for its KN-08 missiles.

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