Geostrategy-Direct
By Richard Fisher
In a shocking demonstration of North Korean nuclear power, on Aug. 5 North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un presided over a commissioning ceremony for 250 transporter erector launchers (TELs) for the Hwasong-11D, demonstrating that North Korea may now have 1,000 of these optionally tactical nuclear warhead armed short range ballistic missiles (SRBM).
In an early morning ceremony, likely timed to lead AM news cycles where possible, Kim spoke before a crowd of North Korean leaders, and the 250 TELs, at the Mirim Parade Ground in Pyongyang, North Korea.
In his speech, reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim appeared to justify North Korea’s ongoing buildup of nuclear weapons as also being good economic policy, saying:
“Building up the nuclear war deterrent and developing it to the highest level possible is the best option for effectively confronting the nuclear blackmail and multi-faceted isolation schemes by the United States and for earmarking a larger investment for economic development and improvement of the people’s living standards – this is the principled standpoint we have consistently maintained over the last ten or so years since we proclaimed the new line of promoting the country’s economic construction and building up its nuclear forces simultaneously, and its validity and viability have been clearly proved through practice.”Revealed in March 2023, the 300-kilometer range Hwasong-11D is apparently a North Korean designed solid fuel SRBM, likely based on the suspected foreign input — likely from China — and larger 900-kilometer range Hwasong-11 SRBM that has also been sold to Russia.
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