Late last month, things got tense [6] in the Korean Peninsula after an argument over a DMZ loudspeaker spiraled out of control. After two South Korean soldiers were wounded by North Korean landmines, the South began blasting propaganda messages over giant speakers on the border. When the North took a shot at one of the speakers, the South returned fire, providing Kim Jong Un with an opportunity to remind the world that he exists (something he is forced to do every now and again when geopolitical realities conspire to relegate the North Korean “menace” to the backburner).
That conflict came on the heels of a hilarious declaration [7] by Pyongyang that the North was prepared to invade the US mainland in retaliation for joint military drills Washington was set to carry out with the South. As part of the planned invasion, Kim said the North was prepared to use “weapons unknown to the world.”
Well, the world may just get a look at one of these heretofore "unknown" weapons on October 10, which marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of North Korea's ruling Workers’ Party. Kim reportedly plans to celebrate [8] the milestone by launching an long-range ballistic missile.
But that’s not all.
The North’s atomic agency now says that Pyongyang has made good on its promise to restart its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, shut down since 2007. Here are some Yongbyon bullets from BBC [9]:
- North Korea's main nuclear facility, believed to have manufactured material for previous nuclear tests
- Reactor shut down in July 2007 as part of a disarmament-for-aid deal
- International inspectors banned in April 2009 when North Korea pulled out of disarmament talks
- A uranium enrichment facility was revealed in 2010. An American nuclear scientist said centrifuges appeared to be primarily for civilian nuclear power, but could be converted to produce highly enriched uranium bomb fuel
- Reactor restarted in 2013, the same year North Korea conducted a nuclear test. Became dormant in August 2014
- Experts believe that reactor could make one bomb's worth of plutonium per year
- Nuclear test based on uranium device would be harder to monitor than plutonium
The North’s "mighty" nuclear arsenal has been improved in “both quality and quantity as required by the prevailing situation,” the agency’s director said on Monday, adding that the North may use its nukes against the US “at any time.”
And because, when it comes to North Korea, even we have a difficult time enhancing the comedic value of the government’s rhetoric, we present the following declaration from Pyongyang with no further comment:
"If the U.S. and other hostile forces persistently seek their reckless hostile policy towards the DPRK and behave mischievously, the DPRK is fully ready to cope with them with nuclear weapons any time.”
