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North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun reported on March 28 that leader Kim Jong-un “guided the work for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles” and “put spurs to continuing to produce powerful nuclear weapons.” (KCNA/Yonhap)

Kim Jong-un on Tuesday reportedly guided the work for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles and “put spurs to continuing to produce powerful nuclear weapons,” according to a report in North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

North Korea revealed a tactical nuclear warhead it calls the Hwasan-31 for the first time to the outside world in photographs published by the Rodong Sinmun.

This refutes official intelligence assessments made by South Korean and US military officials that state that North Korea has not yet acquired tactical nuclear capabilities, but it also appears to be a flaunt of force in response to the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which arrived in Busan earlier in the day.

The Rodong Sinmun reported that on Monday, Kim, at a meeting with the DPRK Nuclear Weapons Institute discussing the bolstering of the weaponization of nuclear power, “note[d] that the institute and the field of atomic energy should expand on a far-sighted way the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials for thoroughly implementing the plan of the Party Central Committee on increasing nuclear arsenals exponentially and put spurs to continuing to produce powerful nuclear weapons, he set forth important tasks facing the institute and the field of atomic energy.”

It is important to note that this is the first time North Korea has released a photo of multiple tactical nuclear warheads. In the photo, Kim is talking to officials in a room where several Hwasan-31 warheads are lined up. There are also several frames on the wall showing the warhead mounted on a 600-millimeter super-large multiple launch rocket system, short-range ballistic missiles Hwasongpho-11 and Hwasongpho-11Na, and the Hwasal-2 cruise missile. The miniaturization of nuclear warheads is intended to show off the country’s diverse nuclear delivery systems.

When asked about North Korea’s ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads during an appearance before the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on Thursday, Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup stated that he “didn’t think that the technique could be mounted on the tactical guided weapons system that North Korea mentioned.”

The move also appeared to be a show of force in response to the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in Busan the same day.

Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of the Nimitz’s Carrier Strike Group 11, said in a press conference that the US was “scheduled to do a trilateral exercise with the JMSDF [Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force] and ROK Navy after we pull out of Busan.” The trilateral exercise in question would come on the heels of previous ones held in September and October of last year.

A second notable aspect of the statement was North Korea’s first public mention of a “nuclear weapon combined management system.”

The Rodong Sinmun article stated that Kim had “learned about the work of putting into an IT basis the state nuclear weapon combined management system ‘Haekbangashoe’ whose scientific accuracy, reliability and security have been strictly verified in the recent combined tactical drill simulating a nuclear counterattack.”

It also said he had “examined the plan and written orders for nuclear counterattack operation.” This sent the message that North Korea has established a combined information system for the combat operation of nuclear weapons, based on orders and directions from Kim.

The North also shared information about testing with underwater and aerial explosions. The Rodong Sinmun reported that the Haeil-1, an autonomous underwater vehicle (nuclear attack drone), had been launched at Wonsan Bay in South Hamgyong Province on Saturday and traveled for 42 hours and 27 minutes before exploding underwater off the coast of Hwadae County in North Hamgyong Province on March 27.

It further reported on a surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile launched Monday from the Yokpo area of Pyongyang toward a target island off Kimchaek, North Hamgyong, where a “nuclear aerial explosion strike” was tested at an altitude of 500 meters.

The nuclear attack drone underwater detonation test was the second, following previous testing on March 21 through 23. The aerial explosion test was the third, following previous ones on March 19 and 22.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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