North nukes shift from strategic to tactical

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju cover their ears while watching a recent missile launch in this photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday. [YONHAP]

North Korea appears to be making good on leader Kim Jong-un's vow to equip frontline units with tactical nuclear weapons and realize its objective of being able to carry out preemptive nuclear attacks should the regime's survival come under threat.

In particular, the North appears to be shifting the focus of its nuclear weapons program towards tactical nuclear weapons and away from strategic nuclear weapons, which could lead to a reassessment of the defenses for South Korea’s military facilities, ports and air bases.

Strategic nuclear weapons are aimed at destroying wide areas, such as entire cities, while tactical nuclear weapons have a comparatively smaller explosive yield and are designed to attack military targets and destroy a limited area.

The shift was first enunciated in state media reports in April, around the time the North tested two short-range projectiles, which was supervised by Kim personally.

In an English-language report, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) described the new weapons system as being “of great significance in radically increasing the fire striking power of the long-range artillery units on the front and strengthening the effectiveness of tactical nuclear operation of the DPRK and diversification of the firepower task,” using the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

In a military parade commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army on April 25, Kim said his regime would “continue to take measures to strengthen and develop nuclear weapons at top speed” — a statement that was followed up in June by a “new operation plan” in the East Sea outlined by the ruling Workers’ Party Central Military Commission and a “nuclear force policy” in September stipulating the conditions for using nuclear weapons, which included a threat to the country’s leadership.

The North then conducted seven missile launch events between Sept. 25 and Oct. 9, firing a variety of short-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, as well as a multiple rocket launcher.

“Recent developments since Kim Jong-un’s April statement clearly show that North Korea is shifting its objectives [in nuclear weapons development] from strategic nuclear weapons to tactical nuclear weapons,” said Jung Dae-jin, a professor at Halla University in Wonju, Gangwon in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo.

“The North is applying as much pressure as possible to the United States Forces Korea (USFK) and the South Korean military at a time it is relatively difficult for Washington to pay attention to Pyongyang … to force the United States to recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, just as it implicitly tolerates Pakistan’s possession of nuclear weapons.”

In KCNA’s Monday report summarizing the recent missile launch events, North Korea claimed all of the missiles for “tactical nuclear operations” were equipped with “virtual nuclear warheads” and published photos of the launches being observed by Kim.

One launch photo showed what experts believe to be a modified version of the KN-23 short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) being launched underwater from a reservoir.

The KN-23 and KN-24 SRBMs possessed by the North perform “pull-up” maneuvers as they approach their targets, enhancing their ability to evade the existing South Korean and U.S. missile defense systems, which target parabolic missile trajectories.

The North’s heavy focus in recent missile tests on SRBMs that can penetrate air defenses suggests that Pyongyang is seeking to level the playing field with Seoul, which is believed to possess far superior and better-trained conventional forces.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]