When a U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea for military maneuvers, North Korea showcased new, smaller nuclear bombs and pledged to create more weapons-grade nuclear material.
As Chairman Kim Jong Un visited the Nuclear Weapons Institute, KCNA released images of the Hwasan-31 warheads.
The photographs may show advances in miniaturizing powerful bombs that can fit on intercontinental ballistic missiles that can hit the U.S.
“Its strength is concentrated. That’s worrying, “compared the new warheads to the 2016 version.
Kim Dong-yup, a former South Korean navy commander who lectures at Kyungnam University, said the warheads were likely prepared for at least eight delivery systems indicated on the wall, including missiles and submarines.
“They are not confined to tactical missiles but look to be a miniaturized, lightweight and standardised warhead that can attach on many vehicles,” he stated.
“Now that the delivery vehicles are virtually complete, they would churn out warheads to ensure second strike capabilities—perhaps hundreds, not dozens—while operating centrifuges even harder to acquire weapons-grade nuclear material,” he continued.
KCNA stated Kim Jong Un ordered the creation of weapons-grade materials “far-sightedly” to increase its nuclear arsenal “exponentially” and make deadly weapons.
He stated “war and nuclear calamity themselves” are the country’s nuclear forces’ opponents, and boosting the arsenal is exclusively for defense and regional peace and stability.
Kim was also informed on Haekbangashoe, meaning “nuclear trigger,” an IT-based integrated nuclear weapon management system whose precision, dependability, and security were validated during recent nuclear counterattack simulations, KCNA claimed.
North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles on Monday. Last week, it conducted a nuclear response simulation against the U.S. and South Korea, accusing them of preparing for an invasion with their military maneuvers.
On March 25–27, North Korea tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone and simulated a nuclear airburst with two tactical ballistic missiles with dummy bombs.
After 41 hours on a “jagged and oval” 600km (373-mile) path, Haeil-1, an underwater drone, reached a destination off the northeast coast.
A spokesman for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said North Korea does not deserve “a single penny” of financial help while pursuing nuclear development.
A South Korean military spokesperson said that more testing and analysis were needed to confirm the North’s new weapons’ deployability but that its report on the underwater drone was likely “exaggerated and falsified.”
