In an editorial on November 6 in the Rodong Sinmun - the mouthpiece of the Korean Workers' Party, writer Tong Thae-gwan said that North Korea's nuclear force has increased dramatically and "reached the strongest level in the world ".
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center) walks near the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile
In praising leader Kim Jong-un's achievements this year, Tong listed events such as the test-launch of the Hwasong intercontinental ballistic missile and the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.
Recently, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolay Patrushev announced that Russia is leading its competitors in the field of nuclear weapons, the first time in the history of the existence of such weapons, RT reported.
In a June report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI, Sweden) said Russia has the most nuclear warheads in the world, with 4,489 deployed and stored. This number does not include old warheads awaiting destruction. Meanwhile, the US ranked second with 3,708 warheads while North Korea ranked ninth with 30 warheads.
However, SIPRI noted that information about North Korea's nuclear arsenal is not very certain. The country may have produced enough fissile material to build 50-70 nuclear warheads, but it may also have the capacity to build fewer.
Last weekend, North Korea decided to mark November 18 as "rocket industry day" to commemorate the successful launch of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on November 6 that it is closely monitoring the possibility of North Korea launching a spy satellite this month on the occasion of a newly-determined missile industry day.
The previous two launches, in May and August, both failed, and North Korea announced it would try again in October. However, the launch did not take place and Pyongyang did not explain why. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said last week that the delay could be to fix technical problems in the previous two attempts.
In another development, the United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed to launch a high-level consultation group on countering North Korea’s cyber activities. According to Reuters, under the new framework, senior cybersecurity officials from the three countries will meet quarterly to discuss how to prevent North Korea from using cyber revenue to fund its weapons development programs.
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