Kim Jong-Un is set to up the ante in the coming weeks with increasingly provocative and eccentric displays of his military nuclear program.
In recently released photos provided by the North Korean government, the supreme leader visited a room displaying what appeared to be various types of nuclear warheads designed to be mounted on missiles or rocket launchers.
The photos showed Kim, who weighs a whopping 270 pounds, or 122 kg, speaking to officials inside the room.
The warheads included about 10 khaki-green pods with red tips.
Other weapons included devices that looked like a finned black and white cone or a large torpedo.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects nuclear warheads at an undisclosed location.
The Supreme Leader visited a room displaying what appeared to be various types of nuclear warheads designed to be mounted on missiles or rocket launchers.
He could also be seen standing next to smaller, more blunt and rounded nuclear devices.
These weapons were originally called Fat Man nuclear weapons after their use in the detonation of Nagasaki in August 1945, due to their broad, rounded shape.
One of the nuclear weapons was a warhead called the Hwasan-91, as described on a sign in the hallway.
Graphics on the poster implied the weapon could fit into some of North Korea’s short-range ballistic systems, cruise missiles and an alleged nuclear-capable underwater drone that the country first unveiled last week.
The size and shape of the Hwasan-31, which some experts estimated to be around 50 centimeters (19 inches) wide and 90 centimeters (35 inches) long, suggested progress in North Korea’s efforts to create a miniaturized warhead. that could fit into their delivery systems. said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
Other weapons included devices that looked like a finned black and white cone or a large torpedo.
He could also be seen standing next to smaller, more blunt and rounded nuclear devices.
It comes as Kim used the meetings to emphasize the need to increase bomb fuel production to meet his goals of expanding his nuclear arsenal “exponentially”, and issued unspecified “important tasks” for his nuclear industry.
Kim also reviewed the country’s established plans for nuclear counterattacks as scientists briefed him on the North’s latest nuclear-capable weapons systems and progress on technologies for mounting nuclear warheads on missiles, the Korean Central News agency said.
Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute, said reports suggest North Korea is getting closer to its next nuclear test.
Hours before North Korea’s sixth test in 2017, state media showed Kim Jong Un looking at a silver, peanut-shaped device, which was apparently an alleged thermonuclear weapon built for intercontinental ballistic missiles that the North claimed to have detonated during that test. proof.
One of the nuclear weapons was a warhead called the Hwasan-91, as described on a sign in the hallway.
Cheong said North Korea will likely use its upcoming test to claim it has acquired a miniaturized nuclear warhead to mount on a growing range of weapons it describes as “tactical.”
The North’s use of the term communicates a threat to use them proactively during conflicts to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States.
Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for the Seoul Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South’s military was analyzing the warhead discovered in the North Korean photos, but did not provide specific assessments.
Graphics on the poster implied the weapon could fit into some of North Korea’s short-range ballistic systems, cruise missiles and an alleged nuclear-capable underwater drone that the country first unveiled last week.
It comes as Kim used the meetings to stress the need to increase bomb fuel production to meet his goals of expanding his nuclear arsenal “exponentially.”
Kim’s calls to increase bomb fuel production came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to place tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, in what was seen as a warning to the West as it escalates. military support for Ukraine.
While siding with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, North Korea has stressed tripartite cooperation with Moscow and Beijing to confront a ‘new Cold War’ waged by ‘US imperialists’, whom it accuses of driving the conflict into Asia by escalating the armed forces. activities with Seoul and Tokyo.