BEIJING. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered an increase in the “production of military-grade nuclear materials” in order to speed up the development of ever more powerful weapons. During an inspection made Monday of the Nuclear Weapons Institute, Kim, reviving fears of an upcoming seventh atomic test, reinforced the promise of “exponential” growth of arsenals when the attack group of the US aircraft carrier Nimitz arrived in South Korea.
After being briefed by officials on the evolution of activities, Kim, according to the official KCNA agency, noted that North Korea should prepare to use weapons “always and everywhere”, urging “to continue the production of nuclear weapons” to strike fear into enemies. The photos published by Rodong Sinmun, a voice of the Workers’ Party, showed Kim surrounded by uniformed officers, inspecting the alleged row of tactical nuclear warheads identified as “Hwasan-31” (“volcano” in Korean), usable on various missiles , according to graphs and diagrams visible on the walls of the rooms.
In 2022, the hermit country defined itself as an “irreversible nuclear power”, with Kim ordering an “exponential” increase in weapons, including tactical nuclear ones. The leader’s latest instructions came in response to ongoing joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea and the arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz in the city of Busan. Pyongyang recently launched a series of ballistic missiles: KCNA also reported that a military unit led by the Northern Armed Forces’ Missile General Bureau tested two surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles loaded with mock nuclear warheads, both of which exploded 500 meters above the expected target. The Academy of Defense Sciences also conducted tests of nuclear attack submarine drones for three days through Monday, the agency said. In detail, a new system capable of generating a radioactive tsunami and destroying enemy ports and ships was tested.