In recent years, North Korea has acquired several new capabilities in the field of nuclear weapons and deterrence that are much more advanced than previous ones, as well as an incredibly aggressive doctrine, favoring tactical and preventive nuclear strikes, to take the military advantage.
Despite its "3 axes" doctrine and much more advanced conventional technological means, the South Korean armies are, today, struggling to contain the evolution of this threat, forcing the country to rely on once again fully within the American nuclear umbrella, to ensure its security.
Questioned on this subject by the deputies, the future South Korean Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, however, did not have any tongue in cheek. Asked whether he was in favor of the nuclearization of South Korean defense, he recalled that today, the country's official position was to rely on the United States, in this domain. Then he added that he was not ruling out any option, to ensure the defense of the country and its fellow citizens, where his predecessors had, until now, systematically rejected the hypothesis.
In this section:
The Rapidly Increasing Threat of North Korean Nuclear Weapons
Over the past five years, under the leadership of Kim Jong-Un, North Korea has made immense progress in the field of deterrent weapons. This has thus equipped itself with a more modern fleet of short and medium range ballistic missiles, with the solid fuel KN-23 (Hwasong-11Ga) in 2019-2020, with a range of 600 to 900 km , according to estimates, and can be implemented from mobile vectors, with very short notice, on a semi-ballistic trajectory designed to thwart anti-ballistic systems like the THAAD.
In 2021, Pyongyang tested, in quick succession, a ballistic missile topped with a hypersonic glider, then a mid-change version of the KN-23, intended to equip new North Korean conventional missile submarines. THE first of these Sinpo-class ships, named Hero Kim Gun-ok, was launched in September 2023, and should be equipped with 10 of these missiles in a vertical silo.
In January 2022, the country tested a new model of “hypersonic” ballistic missile, with a Hwasong-12 missile topped with a hypersonic glider, followed, in 2023, by the first ICBM missile firing, as well as the presentation, for the first time, of nuclear warheads compact enough to equip short-range KN-23 ballistic missiles or North Korean cruise missiles.
Above all, in December 2022, Pyongyang reveals its new nuclear doctrine, providing, in particular, for the use of tactical nuclear weapons, including in a preventive manner, to ensure military victory.
The South Korean 3-axis doctrine, to contain the nuclear threat from Pyongyang, now outdated
The conjunction of these new means, much more modern and efficient than those hitherto in the hands of the North Korean regime, and a much more aggressive doctrine from Pyongyang in the use of nuclear weapons, have obviously increased noticeably the tensions with Seoul, and the concern of the South Korean authorities, in the face of this threat.
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