The Washington Post:
North Korea is touting technological progress in its nuclear program, saying after a nuclear test Friday that it can now produce “smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power.” But it is also making strides in its missile program, analysts say — advances that could enable it to outsmart missile defense systems, which could make the missiles more attractive to potential customers.
North Korea conducted what it called a “nuclear warhead explosion test” Friday. The country has conducted only five nuclear tests since its program began, but this is the third since Kim Jong Un took power at the end of 2011 and its second this year alone.
Under Kim’s leadership, North Korea has also sharply accelerated the pace of missile testing, with almost two dozen launches this year alone. While many of this year’s tests have not been successful and there are still many unknowns about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, there have still been noticeable — and concerning — improvements.
“It seems like North Korea is trying to qualitatively improve its missiles and develop options to evade or fool U.S. missile defenses,” said Kelsey Davenport,, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. “If this continues unchecked, they could develop an inter-continental ballistic missile that could pose a threat to the United States in the next decade.”
In its most recent salvo, North Korea launched three medium-range missiles Monday as China, which had joined the international condemnation of last month’s submarine-launched ballistic missile, was hosting the G20 summit in Hangzhou.
The rockets flew about 600 miles — putting Hangzhou within range. But they were sent in the other direction, falling inside Japan’s air defense identification zone.
Arms control experts have since been poring over photos of the launches released by the North Korean media. Video footage, complete with stirring revolutionary music, shows three missiles being launched in the space of a minute from trucks parked on a highway south of Pyongyang.
