North Korean Army Says It Has Final 'Approval' For Nuclear Attack On US
From Yonhap News:
In a statement, the North's supreme military command said it is formally notifying the White House and the Pentagon that "reckless operations" involving "cutting-edge" nuclear weapons have been finally approved.
Most analysts put North Korea's nuclear weapons capability years away from a reliable rocket, warhead, and re-entry vehicle — all needed for a "cutting edge" strike.
The KCNA statement said exactly, North Korea would attack with a "smaller, cutting edge, lighter and diversified nuclear strike."
Researchers tend to agree that development of such technology would take many more tests, making the truth behind North Korea's boasts quite unlikely — though most estimates also admit that no one can be 100 percent positive the technology has not been developed.
Furthermore, this announcement is eerily similar to several others coming out of state-owned media KCNA and the North Korean administration over the past month.
Perhaps it's in response to Secretary of Defense Hagel's announcement of the placement of missile defense batteries in Guam, calling North Korean rhetoric a "clear" and "present" danger.
Recent military movements from the U.S. indicate the military expects a launch, but likely not nuclear.
Prominent arms analyst Jeffrey Lewis told an Australian think-tank that U.S. troop mobilizations west of the peninsula indicate that a North Korean missile launch is imminent.
From the Lowy Institute for International Policy:
This is unacceptable. The United States, Australia, and other allies appear to be taking important policy decisions on the basis of the imminent deployment of the KN-08 [a North Korean missile]. If this is the case, they should say so directly and provide the basis for asserting the imminent deployment of the KN-08.
The kicker, though, is that until recently, analysts thought these particular North Korean missiles were just a prop. Little is known about KN-08 road-mobile missile, other than from what was seen at a parade in April 2012.
Analysts say it could be medium-range, or worse, an intercontinental variety. Still, they have no idea what to expect.
There's also talk about the somewhat less terrifying Musudan, which is believed to be a variant of the SCUD — a missile more fit for hitting soft-targets, like population centers, rather than taking out military targets.
Recently, the Army released information about a wargame concerning the fall of Kim Jong-Un, the collapse of the government, and follow on actions to protect the estimated eight nuclear warheads in North Korean possession.