N. Korea signals battlefield nuclear intent
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to frontline army units at a key military meeting, state media said Thursday, a move that analysts said indicates it plans to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals’ tense border.
While much international attention has focused on North Korea’s testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, it is also developing a variety of nuclear-capable short-range missiles that can target South Korea.
South Korean officials recently said that North Korea has completed preparations for its first test of a nuclear explosive device in five years, part of a possible effort to build warheads capable of being mounted on short-range missiles.
During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, leader Kim Jong Un and other top military officers discussed on Wednesday “the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the front-line units of the Korean People’s Army and modifying the operation plans,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim also ordered steps to “enhance the operational capabilities of the front-line units,” the news agency said. An agency photo showed what appeared to be a large map of the Korean Peninsula’s eastern coast, including border sites, standing near the conference table.
Although there was no public mention of tactical nuclear weapons, “I can assess that the issues of forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons and the modification of related operational plans and military organization reshuffles have been discussed in an in-depth manner” at the meeting, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s private Sejong Institute.
Cheong said North Korea’s push to deploy nuclear weapons at front-line units was expected since it said in April that its new tactical weapons would significantly boost the units’ attack capacity and the efficient operation of tactical nuclear weapons.
Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that it is closely monitoring North Korean activities but didn’t elaborate. South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which overseas relations with North Korea, said the North will likely increase its military threats against South Korea, but did not elaborate.
Kim convened the Central Military Commission meeting earlier this week to confirm “crucial and urgent tasks” to expand the country’s military capabilities and implement key defense policies, state media said.
Cheong said North Korea is expected to conduct its seventh nuclear test after the meeting, noting that its third nuclear test in 2013 also came days after another Central Military Commission meeting.