North displays ‘tactical nukes’ as Nimitz arrives in Busan

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North displays ‘tactical nukes’ as Nimitz arrives in Busan

Published: 28 Mar. 2023, 17:58 Updated: 28 Mar. 2023, 19:10

In this footage by Pyongyang’s state-controlled Korean Central Television, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seen inspecting what state media called the regime's arsenal of Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warheads. [YONHAP]

A U.S. Navy carrier strike group, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, arrived in Busan on Tuesday ahead of trilateral exercises with South Korea and Japan amid high tensions in the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's advancing missile and nuclear weapons program.

Before the carrier strike group arrived, Pyongyang's state media released a report on leader Kim Jong-un's inspection of the regime's nuclear arsenal, including photos of a new tactical nuclear warhead intended for various North Korean weapons delivery systems.

Kim urged an expansion in the production of fissile material for more nuclear weapons, according to the report.

In an English-language report by the North's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim was quoted as calling for "flawless" preparations for the potential use of nuclear weapons "anytime and anywhere" as he was briefed by the regime's Nuclear Weapons Institute on the state of the regime's nuclear arsenal.

"We should never be satisfied with the work to consolidate the thoroughgoing response posture of our nuclear force and should continuously strive to strengthen nuclear force steadily," Kim said, according to the KCNA.

The North Korean leader was also quoted as calling for an expansion in "the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials" to "produce powerful nuclear weapons."

Photos accompanying the KCNA report showed Kim inspecting an array of previously unseen tactical nuclear warheads named Hwasan-31.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence experts have warned for months that the regime had finalized preparations for a seventh nuclear weapons test, which would likely focus on testing a miniature nuclear warhead, according to Olli Heinonen, a former deputy director at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in October.

At the time, Heinonen said the regime would likely produce new plutonium because the older plutonium already reprocessed at the North's primary uranium enrichment and reprocessing facility in Yongbyon, North Pyongan Province, was not suitable for use in the miniaturization of nuclear warheads.

Successful miniaturization would allow the regime to mount nuclear weapons on various missiles and artillery rockets.

Photos of the Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warheads released by state media showed them lined up under signs that read "nuclear warhead for 600-millimeter super-large artillery launcher," "nuclear warhead for Hwasong-11 missile" and "nuclear warhead for Hwasal-2," suggesting they had been adapted to be compatible with multiple-rocket launchers, ballistic and cruise missiles.

In another report also released Tuesday, the KCNA said a missile unit launched two ground-to-ground ballistic missiles as part of an exercise simulating tactical nuclear attacks on Monday.

According to the KCNA, the two missiles were configured so that their mock nuclear warheads would detonate mid-air.

The state news agency said that the mock warheads detonated 500 meters (1,640 feet) above a target island in the East Sea off the coast of Kim Chaek, North Hamgyong Province.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters Monday morning that it detected the launch of two short-range ballistic missiles from Chunghwa County, North Hwanghae Province, on the Yellow Sea.

The JCS said the missiles flew approximately 370 kilometers (230 miles) before landing in the East Sea.

The nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is docked in Busan Naval Base after its arrival on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The launches took place a day before the arrival of the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 11, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, in Busan on Tuesday.

Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, said at a press briefing aboard USS Nimitz that the carrier group is to conduct a trilateral exercise with the Republic of Korea Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force after it leaves port.

A South Korean defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to reporters said the trilateral exercise is expected to take place early next week after the carrier departs Busan this weekend.

South Korea, the United States and Japan previously held three-way maritime drills in September and October last year, which took place in the East Sea with the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan present.

USS Nimitz is docked at the Commander, Republic of Korea Base following joint exercises with the Republic of Korea Navy south of Jeju Island on Monday.

USS Nimitz is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 11, which includes USS Bunker Hill, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Decatur. Aboard USS Nimitz are some 70 combat aircraft, including F/A-18 fighters and E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft.

Sweeney said during the press conference that he’s “not threatened or worried about North Korea,” adding that the United States has “deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day.”

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