North Korea officially disclosed progress in miniaturization of nuclear weapons

The report said that the policy bureau of the North Korean National Defense Commission issued a statement on the same day, saying that North Korea’s nuclear strikes entered a stage of miniaturization and diversification. According to the statement, not only short-range and medium-range rockets, but also the accuracy and intelligence of long-range rockets can guarantee a high level of hit rate. The true level of North Korea’s nuclear ministry has sparked heated discussions. However, experts generally believe that North Korea may have made some progress in the miniaturization of nuclear weapons, but it will take a long time from the completion stage.

Yonhap News Agency reported on the 20th that, for why the DPRK suddenly issued the above statement, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min Jong said on the same day that the UN Security Council will discuss the implementation of the sanctions against the DPRK on the 28th of this month. North Korea may be dissatisfied. And make a statement. The article said that if North Korea continues to advocate that nuclear strikes have been miniaturized, it will create conditions for the United States to deploy combat power on the peninsula.

South Korea's "Seoul Economy" reported on the 20th that the reasons behind North Korea's doing so are complicated. The first is to intentionally create external tensions to unite inside. In addition, the United States has ridiculed North Korea’s launch of submarine-launched ballistic missiles and characterized it as “deception” and “picture fraud”. North Korea, who feels insulted, may wish to respond by public nuclear weapons progress.

North Korea’s statement stated that North Korea’s launch of submarine-launched missiles is a measure of North Korea’s ability to enhance its self-defense and is a legitimate exercise of sovereignty. It is a real provocation that the United States deploys aggression weapons in South Korea and conducts war exercises with the goal of removing the North Korean leadership and occupying Pyongyang. The United States has shown that nuclear strikes are a real threat to North Korea’s nuclear intimidation. With the United States and other hostile forces continually provoking North Korea, North Korea will use its powerful ground, air and water strategic strikes as its mainstay to further strengthen and improve self-defense nuclear deterrence.

South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-soo said that North Korea should immediately stop all threats and provocations including the development of ballistic missile technology. North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and testing of submarine missiles violated UN Security Council resolutions.

The Korean media is also divided into different opinions on the true level of North Korea’s nuclear miniaturization. According to the Yonhap News Agency, a related person from the South Korean military said that the unanimous evaluation of South Korea and the United States is that North Korea’s nuclear miniaturization technology has reached a fairly high level, but has not yet entered the completion stage.

"Seoul News" believes that it is doubtful whether North Korea’s nuclear installations have indeed reached the standard of miniaturization. The South Korean and US intelligence authorities believe that although North Korea continues to promote the miniaturization of nuclear warheads after the first nuclear test, it is still in the "initial stage." It will take at least 4-5 years for North Korea to push the miniaturized nuclear warheads into actual combat deployment. If North Korea imagines the use of long-range artillery to launch nuclear warheads like the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, it will take at least 10 years.

According to the article, during the Cold War, the United States used a 155-caliber cannon to launch a small nuclear warhead, and had actually deployed a miniature nuclear bomb that could be carried by a jeep. Similar small nuclear devices were developed in the former Soviet Union, but were completely destroyed in the mid-1970s. North Korea wants to reach the level of miniaturization of the nuclear warheads of the United States and the Soviet Union, and the distance is still far away. North Korea’s so-called diversification of nuclear strikes is also somewhat overstated. Although North Korea has successfully implemented submarine-launched ballistic missiles recently, it will take at least five years for the technology to be deployed in actual combat. North Korea still lacks a large submarine capable of carrying nuclear warhead submarine-launched missiles. It takes longer for North Korea to buy or build itself.

South Korea's "World Journal" reported on the 20th that North Korea began to develop nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment in the mid-1980s. Since then, it has acquired high-speed centrifuge technology through its nuclear experts and built a uranium enrichment plant in Yongbyon. Many Korean experts believe that North Korea can produce 3-15 nuclear bombs between 60-300 kilograms of enriched uranium. The threshold for miniaturization of uranium bombs is relatively low, and it is easy to evade outside surveillance. Combined with North Korea’s uranium reserves of up to 4.64 million tons, the first target of North Korea’s nuclear miniaturization should be uranium bombs.

According to the article, the miniaturization standard that can be used for nuclear warheads in the world is generally positioned as "the weight is below 1000 kg and the diameter is below 90 cm". In terms of technology, high explosives and sophisticated detonating devices are required. From the precedent of the first miniaturized nuclear warheads in the new nuclear countries, generally weighing between 1,300 and 2,200 kilograms, North Korea is likely to be at this level as well. If North Korea wants to carry a nuclear warhead on a KN-08 long-range missile that has been publicly displayed, it must weigh less than 500 kilograms.

There are also many Korean military experts who believe that if the North Korean nuclear weapons miniaturization enters the verification phase, the fourth nuclear test may be carried out at any time.