North Korea raises stakes with 'tactical nuclear' drills

In this undated photo released on Oct. 10 by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong-un oversees a missile launch drill. The agency said North Korea conducted the missile launch drills from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9 to test its tactical nuclear warfare capabilities. Yonhap

Kim Jong-un says nothing to talk about with 'enemies'

By Nam Hyun-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said its recent barrage of missile launches were "tactical nuclear" drills aimed at testing its capabilities of striking targets.

The regime also revealed some details of the ballistic missiles it launched, apparently involving new technologies for submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and an improved engine for intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). Experts said the launches appear to be part of the regime's efforts to expand and upgrade its much-touted tactical nuclear capability as well as to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the founding of the North's Workers' Party of Korea.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday that leader Kim Jong-un oversaw military drills staged by nuclear tactical operation units from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9 to "check and assess the deterrence and nuclear counterattack capabilities" as well as send "a severe warning to the enemies."

"This is the verification of the operation posture of our deterrence and, at the same time, an occasion that proved the reliability of the thorough preparedness of the state nuclear defense posture," Kim was quoted as saying in the English version of the KCNA report. "It is also an obvious warning and clear demonstration of informing the enemies of our nuclear response posture and nuclear attack capabilities."

In this undated photo released on Oct. 10 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, a missile is fired from a transporter erector launcher during a dill. The agency said North Korea conducted the missile launch drills from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9 to test its tactical nuclear warfare capabilities. Yonhap

The North has fired 12 missiles in seven separate rounds since Sept. 25, including an IRBM that flew over Japan on Oct. 4.

The provocations were an expression of the North's confidence in its missile capabilities following a naval military drill between South Korea and the U.S. involving the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group staged in South Korean waters from Sept. 26 to 29, and a Seoul-Washington-Tokyo trilateral anti-submarine drill that took place on Sept. 30.

The agency stated that short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) test-fired on Sept. 25 and 28 simulated the loading of tactical nuclear warheads, and the seven launches of the missiles since Sept. 25 were targeting "the enemies' main military command facilities, main ports and airports."

"In the past, the North claimed that its nuclear weapons program was targeting the U.S., not South Korea," said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute. "Since this year, however, the North has threatened to deploy and use tactical nuclear weapons against the South, and this time, it simulated striking South Korean airports, military facilities and ports."

A tactical nuclear weapon is designed for use in a battle in which friendly forces are in the proximity, thus having smaller explosive power than strategic nuclear weapons. The KCNA said that the North's test launches of SRBMs while simulating the loading of a tactical nuclear warhead has South Korea as its main target and were warnings after the large-scale navy drills conducted by South Korea and the U.S.

"After claiming it has miniaturized nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles in 2016, the North has been putting greater emphasis on tactical nuclear warheads. Thus, it is far from being something astonishingly new," said Go Myong-hyun, a senior fellow of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

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"In its eighth politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea last year, the regime highlighted the necessity of enhancing its tactical nuclear weapons capability, along with calls for upgrading strategic nuclear weapons. Since then, it seems that tactical nuclear weapons have been at the center of the North's nuclear program," Go added.

In this undated photo released on Oct. 10 by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, a missile is launched from an underwater platform during a drill which is assumed to have taken place on Sept. 25. The agency said North Korea conducted the missile launch drills from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9 to test its tactical nuclear warfare capabilities. Yonhap

Launching SLBM from lake

Among the missile launches, KCNA said a missile launched on Sept. 25 was fired from a silo under a reservoir, in what appears to be a test of an SLBM.

As part of its missile and nuclear program, the Kim Jong-un regime has been seeking to launch a ballistic missile from a submarine to make it difficult for enemies to detect and destroy it. For this purpose, the North has been testing various platforms, such as a floating platform, submersible barge and even a train.

Experts assume that the North this time used a submersible barge with what is referred to as the "cold launch" technique, where the missile is expelled from the water by a separate device and then ignites.

Also, the KCNA reported that the missile that flew over Japan on Oct. 4 was "a new-type ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile." The missile, which South Korean military officials assume was a modified version of the Hwasong-12, had a shorter payload and was launched by a single main engine, meaning there could have been improvements in the engine capability, experts said.

"There are purposes in the recent provocations. One is a response to the Seoul-Washington naval exercise and the other is promoting its upgraded nuclear missile capability," Go said. "Though launching the missile from a lake and equipping the Hwasong-12 with an improved engine were interesting, they are far from being a new threat. Rather, they are closer to being a propaganda attempt before the founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea."

In this photo released on Oct. 10 by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, an intermediate-range ballistic missile, assumed to be a modified version of the Hwasong-12, flies on Oct. 4. Yonhap

'No necessity for dialogue'

While introducing the missile tests, the KCNA reported that its leader Kim said he has "no content for dialogue with the enemies and felt no necessity to do so."

"The enemies have still talked about dialogue and negotiation while posing military threats to us, but we have no content for dialogue with the enemies and felt no necessity to do so," Kim was quoted as saying. "And we should send a clearer signal to the enemies escalating the regional situation by involving huge armed forces at any time."

The comments are interpreted as a dismissal of calls by the international community ― namely South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's enticement policy ― for the North to stop its provocations and return to the negotiation table.

In August, Yoon announced his North Korea policy, dubbed the "audacious initiative," which is aimed at providing large-scale food, infrastructure, financial and technical support to the regime to entice it to denuclearize.

Following the KCNA report, Seoul's presidential office said in a statement that "protecting peoples' lives is a matter of reality, and it is important to precisely grasp the grave security circumstances of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and thoroughly prepare."