DPRK says it has seen success in miniaturizing nuclear warheads

World Today

People watch a TV news program showing DPRK leader Kim Jong Un with superimposed letters that read: “North Korea has made nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles” at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The DPRK announced Wednesday that its nuclear warheads “have been standardized to be fit for ballistic missiles” through miniaturization. The announcement soon occupied front pages of international media, coming just after South Korea unveiled a series of new unilateral sanctions on the DPRK.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un claimed that scientists had developed miniaturized nuclear warheads that can fit on ballistic missiles, according to the official KCNA news agency.

“This can be called true nuclear deterrence,” Kim said when he met nuclear scientists and technicians, and offered guidance on how to further develop the country’s nuclear arsenal. He commented that the greater the country’s nuclear strike capability becomes, the more powerful the DPRK’s deterrent to aggression and nuclear war will become.

DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION

The steps the DPRK has taken in securing its national security has left it isolated by the international community, and caused great concern for its neighboring countries.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi once again stressed China will stay unwavering in its pursuit of the denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula, calling for dialogue and cooperation as the means for seeking a solution.

The foreign minister pledged China will support and help the DPRK if the latter seeks development and security, but China will not tolerate its pursuit of nuclear and missile programs.

Solving the problems through talks is also a route preferred by the White House, which has said the U.N. Security Council sanctions against the DPRK were intended to pressure Pyongyang to returning to denuclearization talks.

U.S. Department of State spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing earlier this week that the U.N. Security Council resolution is to apply increasing pressure on the elite within the DPRK, encouraging them to come back to the Six-party Talks to discuss denuclearization.

Toner noted that not only the U.S., but the entire international community is concerned by DPRK’s recent activity, adding the country currently shows “no willingness” to come back to the table.

PARALLELS WITH IRAN

Should Pyongyang be coaxed back to the negotiation table, the U.S. and China would ideally seek a solution to the Korean Peninsula issue that would be similar to Iran’s denuclearization, which was agreed after extensive talks last year.

Iran and six world powers, made up of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany, reached a historic deal in Vienna last summer, ending 12 years of sanctions and trade embargoes on Tehran, in exchange for limiting its nuclear program.

At those talks, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised China’s important role in the talks, while Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi described the outcome as creating “more favorable conditions for the development of the China-Iran relationship.

Story by CCTV News