Ｎ. Korea threatens ‘tactical nuclear strike’ on Cheongju and Gunsan airbases

On Monday, two days after launching a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the U.S. mainland, North Korea made another provocation by launching a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), most likely a super-large radiation gun (KN-25), setting the South Korea-U.S. air bases as the target of its “tactical nuclear weapon.”

The North responded to South Korea and the U.S.’ armed protest by mobilizing B-1B strategic bombers and F-35A stealth fighter jets against Pyongyang, which launched Hwasong-15 the previous day. Its intention seems to be to escalate tensions with a series of provocations until the joint air exercises of South Korea and the U.S. in mid-March to make a “power to power” confrontation on the edge of a cliff.

According to the military, two SRBMs were fired into the East Sea from the Sookchon area of Pyongnam around 7 and 7:11 a.m. on Monday. Their ranges were estimated at 390 and 340 kilometers, respectively.

“In response to the South Korea-U.S. joint drills, a 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher (MRL) was aimed with a virtual simulator and fired at the ‘enemy’s operational airfield,’” reported the North’s Korean Central News Agency about an hour after the provocation. “We set virtual targets with ranges of 395 and 337 kilometers from the launch site and fired them into the East Sea,” “The 600-millimeter MRL is the latest type of multi-launch precision strike weapon system, a means of tactical nuclear attack that boasts a staggering force of allocating four shots for each operational airfield,” it added. In fact, if the drop points of the North’s SRBMs turned South, they would hit Cheongju Air Base in North Chungcheong Province and Gunsan U.S. Air Base in North Jeolla Province, home to F-35A and F-16 fighter jets, respectively.

“It is a threat to wipe out the core air power of the South and the U.S. with a pre-emptive nuclear strike in the event of an emergency,” a source in the military said. “A blatant warning that the top targets for tactical nuclear weapons are the South Korea-U.S. airbases, following the Hwasong-15 provocation aimed at Washington.”


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