North Korea eventually wishes to have more nuclear weapons to utilize versus the U.S. soldiers in South Korea and Japan in case of an intrusion, according to a teacher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
North Korea presently has the capability to utilize a little number of nuclear weapons versus the United States, stated Jeffrey Lewis, a teacher on arms control.
“They have some deterrence, but what I think the North Koreans really, fundamentally want is the ability to use a much larger number of nuclear weapons against U.S. forces in South Korea and Japan if they thought an invasion was underway,” he informed CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday.
“This becomes part of [an] … worrying modification in the method they approach nuclear weapons, which modification is actually to provide themselves the capability to utilize nuclear weapons initially if they believe they will be gotten into,” he stated.
His remarks followed North Korea performed another rocket test on Sunday.
State news firm KCNA reported that Kim “gave important instructions on further building up the defense capabilities and nuclear combat forces of the country.”
“North Koreans are really committed to shifting their nuclear policy,” according to Lewis.
He stated the rocket appeared like “yet another variant” of a short-range one which it’s “more of the same” from North Korea– however it’s “still quite unwelcome.”
Testing nuclear weapons?
According to Lewis, North Korea is now pursuing a nuclear weapons test, more than 4 years because its last one in 2017.
“In a sense, the gloves are off,” he stated. “They don’t really feel bound by any of the commitments they made in 2018 when the diplomacy period started, and we’re also seeing a lot of activity at the nuclear test site.”
During his presidency, U.S. President Donald Trump held 2 tops with Kim to talk about denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. The 2nd one, in Hanoi, ended suddenly when the 2 sides were not able to settle on the elimination of sanctions.
North Korea closed the entryways to its nuclear test tunnels in 2018, however they have most likely currently resumed them, Lewis stated.
Satellite images taken in March revealed building at the website where North Korea has actually performed all its previous nuclear tests, Reuters reported.
It’s now up Kim to choose when he wishes to evaluate a nuclear weapon, the teacher stated.
“If we know one thing, we know that there’s going to be a nuclear test when Kim Jong Un feels like it,” he included.
