Shin Beom-chul: "Kim Jong-un's 'Nuclear Attack Readiness Complete' Statement Contains Exaggeration"

Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, emphasized during the two-day "Comprehensive Tactical Exercise of Nuclear Retaliation Simulation" on the 18th and 19th that "only when the nuclear attack posture is fully prepared can the critical strategic mission of war deterrence be fulfilled." In response, Shin Beom-chul, Deputy Minister of National Defense, evaluated this statement as "somewhat exaggerated."

On the 20th, Deputy Minister Shin said on SBS's "Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show," "The missile tested this time is the Iskander-type KN-23, which ultimately poses a nuclear threat to our Republic of Korea. They claim it is fully prepared, but verification is necessary."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "It seems that more time is needed for North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and similar capabilities. Also, although North Korea talks about solid-fuel missiles and solid-fuel ICBMs, the technical level still has a long way to go, according to our assessment."

Deputy Minister Shin stated, "According to North Korea's announcement, they have 'completed the detonation test' and later tested the detonation device that triggers the nuclear weapon by mounting it on a missile. However, based on recent North Korean actions, we have confirmed that some reports are exaggerated and differ from the facts."

He continued, "There are aspects where some reports differ slightly from what we have identified, suggesting some exaggeration. Nevertheless, since North Korea's nuclear capabilities are continuously improving overall, we must remain concerned and closely monitor the situation. On the other hand, it is important for us to strengthen our deterrence capabilities more rapidly to cope with North Korea's rapidly increasing nuclear threat."

Although there is some exaggeration, the fact that North Korea is actually conducting training to attack the South with nuclear weapons is threatening. The Ministry of National Defense plans to respond through the "early establishment of the 3-axis system" and combined ROK-US exercises. Deputy Minister Shin explained, "Even if North Korea exaggerates, we must be fully prepared for that. To establish the 3-axis system early, we are doubling efforts to enhance our military capabilities through initiatives like 'Defense Innovation 4.0.' We are also strengthening nuclear deterrence against North Korea through combined ROK-US exercises."

Regarding opposition lawmakers' claims that restoring GSOMIA (General Security of Military Information Agreement between South Korea and Japan) is what Japan wants, he emphasized the importance of trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the US, and Japan to counter North Korea's missile capabilities, saying, "When emotions take precedence in viewing South Korea-Japan relations, the accurate situation and our response posture are overlooked, whether intentionally or not."

He said, "If North Korea launches a KN-23 missile like this against us, there will be signs, and we must be able to conduct operations like the so-called kill chain operation before the launch. While we must build many reconnaissance assets ourselves, it is also important to utilize US reconnaissance assets, and if necessary, share real-time reconnaissance assets from Japan to establish a readiness posture to respond to North Korea's missile capabilities."

He added, "In this context, GSOMIA means sharing military secret information among South Korea, the US, and Japan?not giving our secrets to Japan, but mutually providing necessary military secrets with the assurance that these secrets will not be leaked to third countries. If you say things like 'Japan needs it more, so we are at a disadvantage,' that is not factually correct and does not help our national interests amid the escalating North Korean nuclear threat."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.