North Korea has unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads for its increasingly potent missiles, photos in state-run media showed Tuesday, as leader Kim Jong Un ordered the boosted production of weapon-grade nuclear materials in his quest to follow through on a pledge to increase his atomic arsenal.
Images accompanying a Korean Central News Agency report showed Kim and senior officials inspecting the new warheads, which were labeled Hwasan-31, as the North Korean leader and other senior officials visited the country’s Nuclear Weapons Institute, where he guided work “for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles” on Monday.
The KCNA report said Kim was briefed on the “technological specifications and features of ... new tactical nuclear weapons according to the purpose of the operation and targets, interchangeability with different weapons systems” as well as the country’s nuclear counterattack plans.
Kim also called on officials to expand "production of weapon-grade nuclear materials” necessary for "exponentially" bolstering the country’s arsenal in order to make its enemies “fear us and not dare provoke our state sovereignty.”
The North, Kim said, should be prepared to use the weapons "anytime and anywhere."
The relatively small green warheads seen in the photos can apparently be mounted on a variety of missiles, posters displayed prominently on a wall in the background of the images appeared to show.
Experts said the photos and visit could indicate Kim’s eagerness to show off progress his country has made in miniaturizing warheads that are both powerful and small enough to mount on both its shorter- and longer-range missiles, including those capable of striking Japan and the United States.
“The images, coupled with the posters on the wall, appear to suggest that North Korea has produced a newer and smaller common warhead design intended to be carried by several different delivery systems,” said Matt Korda, project manager of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. “The posters seem to show the same warhead design being used by at least eight distinct tactical missile systems — nearly all of which have undergone extensive testing campaigns over the past few years.”
North Korea on Monday continued its recent barrage of missile launches, conducting what KCNA said Tuesday in a separate dispatch was a simulated “airburst” nuclear strike by two ground-to-ground tactical ballistic missiles loaded with mock warheads. An airburst is a type of attack that maximizes the destructive power of the weapons, dispersing their effects over a wide swath.
The “virtual nuclear attack” detonated its payload some 500 meters above its target, the report said. Monday’s drill came after a similar exercise last week that was believed to be the first example of the country practicing for an airburst nuclear strike.
KCNA said in a third report that the North had also held another test of an “underwater nuclear attack drone” from Saturday through Monday.
The flurry of missile launches have been seen as a response to the largest joint military exercises involving South Korea and the United States in five years.
Those drills concluded Thursday, but other smaller-scale drills were continuing, including joint exercises Monday involving the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group and South Korean navy vessels.
The Nimitiz on Tuesday made a rare port call in the city of Busan. Ahead of the visit, U.S. Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of the carrier strike group, said the United States, South Korea and Japan would soon hold a trilateral naval exercise involving the Nimitz. That exercise — the latest signal of improving military ties between Seoul and Tokyo amid their rapprochement — could come as early as next week.
Pyongyang views the joint drills as a rehearsal for invasion, but Seoul and Washington say they are defensive in nature. Last month, the North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, delivered a fiery warning against the increased military exercises, threatening to turn the Pacific into a “firing range” if they continued.
This year, Pyongyang has already fired off a total of at least 15 ballistic missiles and six nuclear-capable cruise missiles in 10 launch events, highlighting Kim's determination to follow through on a New Year’s pledge to rapidly increase the number of nuclear bombs his country possesses.
That vow — as well as a decision by Washington, Tokyo and Seoul to double down on building up their capabilities to deter and respond to a North Korean attack — has left little room for any possible return to talks.
Kim has appeared to use the absence of negotiations to build up his arsenal, and may be looking to conduct a long-anticipated seventh nuclear test in the coming days, weeks or months after showing off his diversified delivery systems, which some say have already been sent to military units.
“Given that some of these missiles may already be deployed and others are likely nearing deployment, this display suggests that North Korea’s long-awaited seventh nuclear test may come sooner rather than later,” Korda said of the prominently displayed wall chart in the KCNA photos.
The poster detailing the seemingly interchangeable new warhead as well as past precedent in the North — the last time state media reported on Kim inspecting a nuclear warhead came on Sep. 3, 2017, just hours before it conducted its last nuclear test — could suggest a fresh nuclear blast may be in the cards.
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