Kim Jong-un has warned North Korea is ready to use nuclear weapons 'anytime and anywhere'
Kim Jong-un inspecting warheads at the country’s Nuclear Weapons Institute (Picture: Reuters)

Kim Jong-un warned that North Korea is ready to use nuclear weapons ‘anytime and anywhere’ as he unveiled new, smaller tactical warheads.

His threat comes off the back of a ramping up of ballistic missile launches – with seven this month alone –and rising threats to deploy weapons of mass destruction against his enemies.

The secretive state’s news agency KCNA released photos of Kim inspecting the warheads, dubbed Hwasan-31s, during a visit to the country’s Nuclear Weapons Institute.

It quoted the supreme leader ordering the production of weapons-grade materials in a ‘far-sighted way’ to boost its nuclear arsenal ‘exponentially’.

Kim Jong-un has increased North Korea's test missile launches
Kim has ramped up his nuclear threats recently (Picture: Reuters)
Kim Jong-un has repeatedly threatened to deploy weapons of mass destruction against North Korea's enemies
He has also scaled up missile launches (Picture: Reuters)

Experts say the images could indicate progress in miniaturising warheads that are powerful yet small enough to mount on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking both close neighbours South Korea and as far afield as the US.

Kune Y Suh, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, compared the new warheads to the 2016 version.

‘It has something more powerful in a smaller space. That’s worrisome,’ Dr Suh added.

Kim Dong-yup, a former South Korean naval officer who teaches at Kyungnam University, said the warheads were most likely designed for use with at least eight different delivery platforms listed in posters on the wall, including missiles and submarines.

‘Those are not limited to tactical missiles but appear to be a miniaturised, lightweight and standardised warhead that can mount on various vehicles,’ he said.

‘Now that the delivery vehicles are nearly ready, they would churn out warheads to secure second strike capabilities – perhaps hundreds, not dozens – while running centrifuges even harder to get weapons-grade nuclear material.’

Kim was also briefed on an IT-based integrated nuclear weapon management system called Haekbangashoe, which means ‘nuclear trigger’, whose accuracy, reliability and security were verified during recent drills simulating a nuclear counterattack, KCNA said.

Kim Jong-un has ordered North Korea to produce weapons-grade material in a 'far-sighted way'
Kim has ordered the production of weapons-grade materials in a ‘far-sighted way’ to boost its nuclear arsenal ‘exponentially’ (Picture: Reuters)
Kim Jong-un wants North Korea to boost its nuclear arsenal 'exponentially'
A TV screen at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, shows a news report on North Korea that fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (Picture: Lee Jae-Won/AFLO/Shutterstock)

North Korea has been ramping up tensions, firing short-range ballistic missiles on Monday and conducting a nuclear counterattack simulation last week against the US and South Korea, which it accused of rehearsing an invasion with their military exercises.

Its military simulated a nuclear airburst with two tactical ballistic missiles equipped with mock warheads during Monday’s training, while testing a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone again on March 25-27, KCNA said in separate dispatches.

The underwater drone, called Haeil-1, reached a target in the waters off the northeast coast after cruising along a ‘jagged and oval’ 373-mile course for more than 41 hours, it added.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said North Korea does not deserve ‘a single penny’ of economic aid while pushing for nuclear development.

A military spokesman added that additional tests and analysis would be needed to verify whether the North’s new warheads are deployable, but that its report on the underwater drone was most likely ‘exaggerated and fabricated’.

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