North Korea hasn’t specified the new operational duties for frontline units, but analysts say the country could be planning to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting rival South Korea along their tense border. Kim has punctuated his recent tests with repeated comments that North Korea would use its nuclear weapons proactively when threatened or provoked, which experts say portend an escalatory nuclear doctrine that may create greater concerns for neighbors. Short-range arsenalWhile Kim’s ICBMs grab much international attention, North Korea since 2019 has also been expanding its arsenal of short-range solid-fuel missiles threatening South Korea. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in the South to deter aggression from the North. The recent military meeting came amid signs that North Korea is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test explosion since September 2017, when it claimed to have detonated a thermonuclear weapon that could be tipped on its ICBMs.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 24, 2022 12:50 UTC