The Undersea World of Kim Jong-Un Or The Missiles of October

“We are continuing to analyze details of the missiles, including a possibility that they might have been launched from the sea.” 

Japanese vice defense minister, Toshiro Ino, October 8th, after North Korea’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks.

These latest missiles mark North Korea’s 25th launch so far in 2022, including the most ballistic missiles fired in a single year since leader, Kim Jong-Un took power in 2012. By comparison, Pyongyang conducted four tests in 2020 and eight in 2021. Indeed, an October 4th missile flew over Japan itself, landing in the Pacific Ocean beyond. Alarms sounded, residents took cover, trains and subways were stopped and emergency radio and television messages were posted. North Korea is clearly a nuclear power, telling the world that it has built its nuclear program with supporting missiles fully capable of delivering a nuclear warhead as a defensive move against American aggression.

The world is so distracted with Putin’s diabolical war against Ukraine, his own threats to deploy nuclear weapons and his massive recent strikes that Kim’s attempts to remain center stage in the world of nuclear threats seem to have slipped under the radar. This escalation in North Korea’s capacity is focused on targets in South Korea, the US mainland and our regional allies. Writing for the October 11th Associated Press, Hyung-jin Kim fills in some necessary details: “North Korea’s recent barrage of missile launches was a simulated use of its tactical nuclear weapons to ‘hit and wipe out’ potential South Korean and U.S. targets, state media reported Monday [10/10], as leader Kim Jong Un signaled that he would conduct more provocative tests.

“The North’s statement, released on the 77th birthday of its ruling Workers Party, is seen as an attempt to burnish Kim’s image as a strong leader at home amid pandemic-related hardships as he defiantly pushes to enlarge Pyongyang’s arsenal to wrest greater concessions in future negotiations… ‘Through seven times of launching drills of the tactical nuclear operation units, the actual war capabilities … of the nuclear combat forces ready to hit and wipe out the set objects at any location and any time were displayed to the full,’ the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

“The news agency said the missile tests were in response to recent naval drills between U.S. and South Korean forces, which involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan for the first time in five years… Viewing the drills as a military threat, North Korea decided to stage ‘the simulation of an actual war’ to check and improve its war deterrence and send a warning to its enemies, the news agency said… North Korea considers U.S.-South Korean military drills an invasion rehearsal, though the allies have steadfastly said they are defensive in nature. Since the May inauguration of a conservative government in Seoul, the U.S. and South Korean militaries have been expanding their exercises, posing a security challenge to Kim.

“The missile tests — all supervised by Kim — included a nuclear-capable ballistic missile launched under a reservoir in the northeast; other ballistic missiles designed to launch nuclear strikes on South Korean airfields, ports and command facilities; and a new ground-to-ground ballistic missile that flew over Japan, the news agency reported. It said North Korea also flew 150 warplanes for separate live-firing and other drills in the country’s first-ever such training.

“Cheong Seong-chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said the missile launches marked the first time North Korea performed drills involving army units tasked with the operation of tactical nuclear weapons… The North’s public launch of a missile from under an inland reservoir was also the first of its kind, though it has previously test-launched missiles from a submarine… Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said North Korea probably wants to diversify launch sites to make it difficult for its enemies to detect its missile liftoffs in advance and conduct preemptive strikes.”

Donald Trump’s multiple meetings with Kim – all taking place in Asia and even in Korea itself – were utter failures. Trump’s efforts only elevated Kim’s worldwide status by such meetings; Kim played the US President like a puppet. Nothing Trump offered even slightly tempted Kim to turn off his nuclear/missile program. The North’s program has continued to develop. But it is Kim’s ambitions to bring nuclear-missile-capable submarines off the US coast that is most troubling.

According to 19fortyfive.com (August 26th), North Korea operates somewhere between 64 and 80 submarines (including midget craft used for infiltration). All are diesel-electric which have to surface at least every few days and are more easily detected than most modern nuclear vessels in the US navy. But in 2014, the North began launching a larger, Sinpo/Gorae (“Whale”) class submarine, capable of serving as a missile launch platform. ‘According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), this metaphorical new kid on the block ‘likely features diesel-electric propulsion, but does not feature an Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) system. This limits the Gorae’s capability as a survivable, second-strike nuclear deterrent, as it cannot remain submerged for more than a few days without surfacing.’ The boat boasts a top speed of 10 knots, a length of 219 feet (66.75 meters), a beam width of 22 feet (6.7 meters), and a surfaced displacement of 1,455 tons.

“Most significantly, back on October 22, 2021, the DPRK used its new Gorae to conduct a much-ballyhooed launch of a KN-23 short-range ballistic missile (SRBM). Vann H. Van Diepen of the Henry L. Stimson Center’s 38 North project opines that ‘The launch and associated announcements have much greater political than military significance.’ However, it’s not something that can be simply blown off altogether.” 19fortyfive.com. While the US Navy does not consider this submarine to be an immediate threat to the US mainland, the reality is that North Korea’s progress in nuclear weapons and missile platforms is both their national priority and happening at a rapid pace. Sooner or later…

I’m Peter Dekom, and as we polarize ourselves into total governmental dysfunction, we are generously aiding and abetting nuclear enemies delighting in our self-destruction, just as their egos and paranoia move them to become some of the greatest threats we have ever known.