North Korea has been threatening to throw enemy cities into a “sea of fire” for many years, all the while persistently working to develop a nuclear weapons programme to back up its aggressive rhetoric.
North Korea may be drawing inspiration from Vladimir Putin’s fierce rhetoric as he leads Russia, a nuclear-armed member of the U.N. Security Council, as it conducts another torrid run of powerful weapons tests and threatens preemptive nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul.
It is feared that the normalisation of nuclear threats is emboldening North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he completes his still unfinished nuclear programme. Putin has raised the horrifying possibility of using tactical nukes to reverse battlefield failures in Ukraine.
There are a number of new indications that North Korea is getting more active in making its nuclear bombs the focal point of its military after more than 40 missile launches this year, which is its highest number ever.
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“Putin and Kim feed off each other, routinizing the right to nuke a peaceful neighbor by repeating it without repercussion,” said Sung-Yoon Lee, an expert on North Korea at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. “Putin’s threats sound more credible than Kim’s, as there is bloodshed in Ukraine every day. But Kim’s threats must not be dismissed as empty bluster.”
According to North Korean propaganda, a recent two-week bombardment of missile launches was intended to mimic the employment of its tactical battlefield nuclear weapons to “strike and wipe out” possible targets in South Korea and the United States. It’s thought to be the first time North Korea has conducted training exercises with army units charged with using tactical nuclear weapons.
The tests, which were all overseen by Kim, included the launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile under a reservoir, the testing of ballistic missiles with the capability of carrying out nuclear strikes on South Korean airfields, ports, and command centres, and the test of a brand-new ground-to-ground ballistic missile over Japan.
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The long-range cruise missile tests, which Kim termed as a successful demonstration of his military’s developing nuclear attack capabilities and readiness for “real war,” were reported by state media on Thursday.
Additionally, there are signs that North Korea is preparing to place tactical nuclear weapons close to its front border with South Korea. Additionally, the North has passed a new law that permits preemptive nuclear attacks in a variety of circumstances, including non-wartime ones, if it sees a threat to its leadership.
Even though North Korea is still developing its nuclear-tipped missile capability, every test brings it one step closer to its end aim.
“North Korea has been clearly emulating Putin’s approach in his war on Ukraine while using it as a window to accelerate arms development,” according to Park Won Gon, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University.
