SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea marked the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline military units at a ceremony where leader Kim Jong Un called for a ceaseless expansion of his military’s nuclear program to counter perceived U.S. threats, state media said Monday.
Concerns about Kim’s nuclear program have grown as he has demonstrated an intent to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons along the North’s border with South Korea and authorized his military to respond with preemptive nuclear strikes if it perceives the leadership as under threat.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the launchers were freshly produced by the county’s munitions factories and designed to fire “tactical” ballistic missiles, a term that describes systems capable of delivering lower-yield nuclear weapons.
Kim said at Sunday’s event in Pyongyang the new launchers would give his frontline units “overwhelming” firepower over South Korea and make the operation of tactical nuclear weapons more practical and efficient. State media photos showed lines of army-green launcher trucks packing a large street with seemingly thousands of spectators attending the event, which included fireworks.
North Korea has been expanding its lineup of mobile short-range weapons designed to overwhelm missile defenses in South Korea, while also pursuing intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to reach the U.S. mainland.
Kim’s…
