North Korea and Its Military Strategies - An Explainer Deep Dive
Tank in the DPRK Victory Day Parade, Courtesy of Uri Tours
Military has always been at the epicentre of North Korean culture, and dictator Kim Jong-Un has long emphasised the importance of building a nuclear arsenal. In 1948, North Korea was established as a communist state under Kim Il-Sung, who implemented the military-centric authoritarian regime and propaganda-fuelled cult of personality still in place today. Despite the adamantly enforced information barrier between North Korea and the outside world, the crucial role hostile defence practices play in societal structure is universally recognised.
Fears of a North Korean nuclear crisis certainly aren’t new, but the last few weeks have seen an unprecedented acceleration in aggression. On September 9, Kim passed a law declaring North Korea a ‘Nuclear Weapons State.’ This move firmly rejects US appeals for denuclearisation, asserting the government’s “right” to use nuclear weapons as a form of pre-emptive defence.
On September 25, Kim oversaw the first of an alarming spate of ballistic missile launches when a short-range missile landed in the water between Japan and North Korea. This was then followed by six further separate missile launches between September 28 and October 9. On one of these occasions, an intermediate-range missile was deployed, flying over Japan.
Last Monday marked the 77th anniversary of the establishment of the communist party in North Korea. To celebrate, state media outlet KCNA finally spoke out, referring to the launches as attack simulations of “tactical nuclear operation units,” demonstrating their preparedness to “hit and wipe out the set objects at the intended places in the set time.” South Korea and the US were identified not only as the “enemies,” but also as the intended recipients of a “strong military reaction warning.” Kim has justified these acts as a defensive response to naval drills involving an American nuclear aircraft in the Korean Peninsula. Apparently, the 25 September launch simulated deployment of underwater missiles, indicating potential technological advancements. Further tests were labelled as simulation nuclear attacks to “neutralise” various South Korean targets, including airports, military command facilities, and enemy ports.
Further tests of long-range missiles were performed on Wednesday. On Thursday, Kim upped the ante by declaring: “our nuclear combat forces… proved again their full preparedness for actual war to bring the enemies under their control.” Kim also communicated his intention to “continue to expand the operational sphere of the nuclear strategic armed forces to resolutely deter any crucial military crisis… and completely take the initiative.”
Kim’s strategy seems to be driven by a desire to be recognized as a genuine threat, a measure the US seems reluctant to take. Conspicuous acts of aggression are certainly one way for Kim to force acknowledgement. Expert Park Won-Gon noted: “there is a very clear political message there; [that it is] unreasonable to call for the full denuclearisation of North Korea… It means that finally, North Korea has a very high chance to be acknowledged by the United States as a de facto nuclear weapon state.”
Acknowledged or not, North Korean military strategies undeniably threaten global security. While most nations have condemned Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, North Korea is one of Putin’s strongest allies. This indirectly places North Korea even further opposed to South Korea, Japan, and the US, as all have politically and financially supported Ukraine. Fears concerning a potential North Korean nuclear test have grown since May, and following Monday’s announcement, expert Leif-Eric Easley warned: “The KCNA report may also be a harbinger of a forthcoming nuclear test for the kind of tactical warhead that would arm the units Kim visited in the field.”
It would be a mistake to dismiss recent developments as a mere bluff, but it is worth noting that North Korea is notorious for strategic embellishment. As the Center for Strategic and International Studies outlined, “rather than an emerging threat, this test was most likely a propaganda and deception operation designed to focus regional and world attention on North Korea’s desired external image of a mighty and powerful nuclear-armed nation.”
Moreover, North Korea has embarked on a propaganda campaign to reinvent its public image, bolstering its military strength. In March, a film was broadcast depicting Kim as an action-hero figure, clad in a leather jacket and sunglasses, orchestrating the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in slow motion. The highly dramatised video borders on parodical, starkly contrasting past launches directed from a control room. North Korean analyst Rachel Lee considers this an effort to “mollify” the North Korean public, who are currently facing an economic crisis. As Lee puts it, “him walking out in front of a missile, that’s something you would see in a Mission Impossible movie… this modernising of content marks a turning point, and could come from a desire for Kim to reach a younger generation.” This, taken in conjunction with the escalation over the past few weeks makes one thing clear: Kim Jong-Un’s principal strategy is to establish North Korea as a force to be reckoned with.