North Korea is one of the nations that is shrouded in mystery because of how little is known about it. From that, The Nation's leader, Kim Jong-Un has been testing nuclear weapons since 2011 and has expanded his armoury on a huge scale.
How strong is the DPRK?
The nuclear arms of the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) are supposed to be one of the powerful ones in the world, with more than 60 weapons. It is said to have the power to destroy The United States of America and anyone coming in between. The ever-mysterious nation was recently in the light because of the recent missile firing. The United States of America has considered North Korea their greatest enemy for the longest time. There has always been tension between the two nations and the missile firing seems to have tugged on those strings a little harder. It is also known that North Korea is in continuous war with South Korea and the recent events seems to have increased the tension there in a great amount as well.
The Missile tests in 2022:
The first missile from North Korea after two years was fired on 5th January. This fire was noticed on the Japanese coast. This was said to be the country’s " first show of force this year ". With the power that the weapon holds, South Korea and Japan were left profoundly concerned. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said “Since last year, North Korea has repeatedly launched missiles, which is very regrettable.” These missiles are said to be "Hypersonic" missiles and are named according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) these hypersonic missiles like "Hwasong" and its variations can detach from its rocket booster and manoeuvre 120km (75 miles) laterally before it “precisely hit” a target 700km (435 miles) away. It is also stated that these weapons can work in winter as well. According to KCNA these weapons can also “multi-step glide jump flight and strong lateral manoeuvring.” This kind of weaponry is said to be the next generation of nuclear arms to exist.
Since then, this nation's leader has been testing several kinds of missiles despite the United Nations's ban on such arms being used. At first operations were kept hush as the UN's aforementioned ban. However, in recent times operations are conducted in the open that completely moves opposite to the agenda of the ban.
These tests have many nations suspecting that there could be a huge and devastating war ahead which cannot promise any survivors.
Why does North Korea love nuclear weapons?
From the limited information surrounding North Korea, it can be said that the nation has a poor economy, bad living conditions for its people, and barbaric punishments and unreasonable laws. The citizens are denied basic human rights which poses a big question mark on the nation's integrity. The living conditions of the people are something that speaks volumes about the poor infrastructure and quality of life which are major indicators of the economy of the country. The question is why does the leader want to invest in defence instead of improving the economy or providing its citizens outside Pyongyang with necessities?
Some could even question how they receive the materials to create such a powerful weapon. This dates to the 1960s. In 1963, North Korea approached The Soviet Union for help in preparing these bombs to which the Soviet Union refused. Later, they helped in creating a powerful nuclear weapon which has now multiplied into arms that could potentially reach Florida with deadly effects. It is also speculated that North Korea also generates funds through demanding money for attending negotiations.
While the actual reason is not known, the reasons for this are up for a debate. For an exceedingly long time, many debated the country's need for such deadly weapons. The conversation started by questioning the threat to be for economic and diplomatic benefits. However, this conversation has moved to questioning Pyongyang's actual motive for hoarding these dangerous arms. One of the reasons could be the survival of the regime that the Kims have built. The leaders of this nation have seemed to completely brainwash their citizens and have successfully spread propaganda about the western countries. Another reason could be the matter of pride and superiority. Through the means of arms DPRK tries to look superior in the eyes of the world. The main reason could be boiled down to show superiority.
To this day there is still a lot of information that remains a mystery to the outside world about this nation. However, the bits and pieces of it point towards a nation that only cares about being at the top rather than its people. With limited usage of the internet, banning western movies and the 60% of the population living in poverty the nation's leader seems to only care about destruction rather than reconstruction. The nations to suffer the effects of Hwasong are South Korea and Japan. One can only hope that there will not be a situation like both world war I and II because fights between nations affect the civilians the most.
References
1. Al Jazeera. (2022, January 5). North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile: Japan, South Korea. Weapons News | Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/5/north-korea-fires-projectile-from-eastern-coast-south-korea
2. Al Jazeera. (2022b, January 6). North Korea says Wednesday test was hypersonic missile. Weapons News | Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/6/north-korea-says-wednesday-test-was-hypersonic-missile
3. Wikipedia contributors. (2022, January 10). North Korea and weapons of mass destruction. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction
4. Check, B. R. (2022, January 28). North Korea: What we know about its missile and nuclear programme. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41174689
5. CFR.org Editors. (2021, December 22). North Korea’s Military Capabilities. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-missile-tests-military-capabilities