North Korea vows nuke, missile tests soon

Park warns North of collapse without embracing change

By Kang Seung-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that his military regime will test nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles “in a short time,” according to Pyongyang’s state media, Tuesday.

The North’s announcement came days after it said it has successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead to fit on a ballistic missile.

“Declaring that a nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads will be conducted in a short time to further enhance the reliance of nuclear attack capability, the General instructed the relevant section to make prearrangement for them to the last detail,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The North Korean leader’s comments were made while he was overseeing a simulation for re-entry technology needed to bring a nuclear-armed ballistic missile back into the Earth’s atmosphere, the agency said, adding that the simulation was successful.

“We have proudly acquired the re-entry technology, possessed by a few countries styling themselves as military powers, thus making a great progress in ballistic rocket technology,” he said.

The announcement is the latest bout of saber-rattling from the North in response to the ongoing joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States as well as the recent international sanctions for its Jan. 6 nuclear test and Feb. 7 rocket launch.

In response, the government warned that the North will have to face “unbearable punishment” if it conducts further provocations.

Seoul and Washington have staged the annual military exercises — Key Resolve and Foal Eagle — since last week, which Pyongyang denounces as an invasion rehearsal. In addition, the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council slapped harsh new sanctions on the repressive state earlier this month to starve it of money for its nuclear weapons program.

Angered by such moves, the Kim regime has ramped up its bellicose rhetoric.

On March 3, the North Korean dictator ordered his officials to get ready to use nuclear weapons at any time, warning of pre-emptive attacks against Seoul and Washington, followed by his statement on March 9 that his country had successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead.

Also, Kim ordered the country to improve its nuclear attack capability by carrying out more tests.

While the North continues stressing more tests of its nuclear weapons, analysts believe that it will conduct another nuclear test or test-fire a long-range missile ahead of a congress of its ruling Workers’ Party in early May.

“The North may push ahead with its fifth nuclear test that would be a hydrogen bomb or a reinforced boosted fission bomb,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow of the Sejong Institute.

South vows retaliation

In response to the North Korean announcement, President Park Geun-hye said that the North will collapse unless it embraces change.

“Should the North continue reckless provocations and strong confrontation with the international community without any shift in its attitude, it will be on the path to self-destruction,” Park said during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, held hours after the report.

She ordered the military to maintain an all-out readiness posture to retaliate against North Korea if it stages provocations, while instructing the government to strengthen strategic communication with neighboring countries, including the United States and China.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned that the North will face unbearable punishment if it conducts further provocations.

“If North Korea directly challenges the international community’s united resolve and conducts another provocation, it will face the international community’s unbearable punishment,” ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a briefing.

Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the ruling Saenuri Party said that the North seems to have completed preparation for the launch of a nuclear warhead-equipped ballistic missile, citing information from the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

The ruling party held an emergency security meeting with the government, including officials from the defense and foreign ministries and the spy agency.

“In the past, the North focused on detonating nuclear devices, but today’s report means that it is ready to field a small nuclear warhead atop an intercontinental missile,” Lee said after the meeting.

“The North Korean threat has become a reality.”

According to him, the NIS plans to closely investigate whether the North is fully prepared to test nuclear warheads.