What is North Korea trying to do with its nuclear weapons?
While North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world, it is also one of the nine nuclear powers in the world. News site Bloomberg explains on its YouTube channel how it became one of the nuclear powers and what it plans to do with its nuclear weapons.
North Korea is one of several nuclear-weapon states, along with the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China, India, Pakistan and Israel.
North Korea's path to acquiring the power to manufacture nuclear weapons dates back to the time of its founding father, Kim Il-sung.
North Korea received nuclear technology from the Soviet Union for 'peaceful energy purposes.'
However, in reality, North Korea had been aiming to manufacture nuclear weapons from the beginning, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kim Jong-il, who took over the country, poured funds into nuclear weapons development while receiving food aid programs in the midst of a shrinking economy. In 1998, he decided to conduct the first test of a multi-stage ballistic missile. In 2005, North Korea officially announced that it possessed nuclear weapons.
Kim Jong Un's regime has also made strategic investments in nuclear weapons.
Today, North Korea has a nuclear arsenal large enough to target the continental United States, Australia, and even parts of Europe. Experts estimate that North Korea has around 50 operational nuclear warheads.
North Korea also conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test launch in July 2017, and is believed to have been further improving its missile system since then.
One example is switching from liquid to solid fuel, which would allow the fuel to be built into the missiles during production, allowing North Korea to launch them more quickly in the event of an emergency.
Efforts are also being made to miniaturize the warheads so that they can be fitted to more weapons.
In recent years, ties with Russia have also deepened. Since the start of the Ukraine war, Russia and North Korea have reached a 'strategic partnership.' Although North Korea is subject to a number of tough sanctions, the cooperation allows North Korea access to key Russian technologies.
North Korea has adopted a policy known as 'military-first politics,' which prioritizes the military. Although its military budget is small compared to major powers, it is estimated to be between $7 billion and $11 billion per year.
The country's economy is said to be worth $25 billion, which means at least a quarter of that is allocated to the military budget.
How does one of the world's poorest countries afford such a military budget? It is believed to be from cybercrime earnings.
It has also been pointed out that they make billions of dollars from drug trafficking, arms sales, and counterfeit currency sales.
So what exactly is Kim Jong Un trying to achieve with nuclear weapons? Experts point out that it is 'to pass on power to the next generation and ensure the preservation of the North Korean regime.' In other words, he is not preparing for war itself, as war would not advance his goals, but he is preparing to use conventional and nuclear weapons in the event of an emergency.
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