North Korea's East Sea Naval Base Approaches Sino-Russian Aircraft Carrier Submarine Base, 600mm Rocket Launched

North Korea's East Sea Naval Base Approaches Sino-Russian Aircraft Carrier Submarine Base, 600mm Rocket Launched

North Korea is attempting to enlarge its naval base in the East Sea with a joint Sino-Russian military system, and has tested a 600mm automatic rocket launcher while approaching an aircraft carrier and submarine base in the Pacific strategic zone during Sino-Russian military exercises.
Brookings Fellow O'Hanlon, a member of the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Committee, said on the 10th, ahead of the fifth Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultative Group (EDSCG) between South Korea and the U.S. in Washington, that the "end of the regime if North Korea uses nuclear weapons" announced by South Korea was "a ridiculous scenario and a mistake."
Regarding the "end of the regime if North Korea uses nuclear weapons," O'Hanlon said, "I think that declaration was actually a mistake in U.S. policy. If South Korea had demanded such a declaration from the U.S., it would have been a mistake in South Korean policy as well." North Korean leader Kim Jong-un emphasized the need to build a naval port in the East Sea on the 8th and announced military measures to deploy air defense and coastal defense systems to defend the port, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

38 North reported on the 8th that Dapchon Port in Wonsan Bay in the East Sea is a strong candidate for a new naval base.
On the morning of the 12th, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) over a period of four minutes from near Pyongyang into the East Sea, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that they were detected landing on Al Island off the coast of Gilju County, North Hamgyong Province, a frequently used SRBM target 360 km away.
Regarding the North Korean ballistic missile launch on the 12th, the Yomiuri reported on the 13th that “the 600mm caliber rocket refers to a short-range ballistic missile that North Korea claims is a tactical nuclear weapon aimed at all of South Korea,” and “North Korea’s announcement on the 12th that it had launched at least two ballistic missiles from the west coast to the northeast into the East Sea is interpreted as referring to this (600mm rocket).”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on the 11th regarding the deployment of US missiles in Japan, “The partnership with China is not aimed at a third country, but rather the two countries can combine their potential when faced with threats from the US,” and “I would like to remind you that Moscow and Beijing will respond to the US’ ‘double blockade’ with a ‘double response.’”

Russian media reported on the 13th that a Russian delegation led by UN Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea and met with Chairman Kim Jong Un to discuss bilateral and international issues, AP reported.
Shoigu, then Russia's defense minister, visited North Korea in July 2023 and met with Kim Jong Un.
Reuters reported on the 11th, “The Japan Times reported on the 7th that the US had expressed interest in deploying the Typhoon intermediate-range missile system to Japan for joint military exercises, and in response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova told reporters at a briefing that ‘both Russia and China will certainly respond to the emergence of additional and very serious missile threats.’”
The Chosun Ilbo reported on the 8th that North Korea’s Chairman Kim said regarding his inspection of the East Sea base, “Now that we will soon have large warships and submarines that cannot be docked at existing warship mooring facilities, the construction of a naval base to operate the latest large warships has emerged as an urgent task.” Reuters reported on the 13th that “Chairman Kim Jong-un emphasized the need to build a naval port capable of operating warship weapons systems during his inspection and announced military measures for deploying air defense and coastal defense systems to defend the port,” and “Chairman Kim cited the geopolitical advantages of the region bordering the sea to the east and west, and the location of the site was not specified in the report.”
On the 9th, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced in a statement that the Russian and Chinese militaries would conduct joint exercises near the East Sea of ​​the Korean Peninsula and the Sea of ​​ Okhotsk at the end of September.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced that the “North-Joint 2024” exercises involving the navies and air forces of the two countries would be conducted in these waters, and that “the goal is to deepen the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and strengthen their joint response capabilities to security threats,” describing the “East Sea area as a strategic region for China and Russia.” China and Russia have been conducting joint maritime patrols in the East Sea, and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced that it would “deploy a fleet to the Pacific Ocean-related waters” during this exercise, including the East Sea in the “Pacific Ocean region.”
On the 12th, Lee Sung-joon, the Public Relations Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated regarding the North’s missile launch, “The short-range ballistic missile provocation could have been a reaction to our recent joint exercises or Ssangyong training, or a test for export to Russia, and the trash balloon was seen as being lifted yesterday despite the wind direction being wrong.”
Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Defense Policy Committee of the U.S. Department of Defense, evaluated the 5th “Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group” (EDSCG) as “an absurd scenario and simply a mistake” regarding the strategic consultation that “if North Korea uses nuclear weapons, it will lead to the end of the regime.”

“I don’t think we necessarily have to end the North Korean regime,” Commissioner O’Hanlon told Voice of America. “If we try to do that, North Korea could attack Seoul with nuclear weapons in the process, and if North Korea detonates a nuclear weapon, they should be severely punished, but ending the regime means Kim Jong-un has no more reason to refrain from further actions, and in the process, he could try to kill as many Koreans and Americans as possible. It’s a ridiculous scenario, and it’s just a mistake.” Regarding the “end of the North Korean nuclear regime,” Commissioner O’Hanlon said, “I think that declaration is actually a mistake in US policy. If South Korea had demanded such a declaration from the US, it would have been a mistake in South Korean policy as well.”

On the 21st of last month, President Yoon Seok-yeol said at the operational command center of the ROK-US joint Ulchi Freedom Shield Exercise (UFS), “We must make it clear to the North Korean regime, which dreams of communist unification and is eyeing South Korea, that ‘invasion means the end of the regime.’” Defense Minister Kim Yong-hun said in his inaugural speech on the 6th, “If they provoke, we will make them pay a terrible price under the principle of ‘immediate, strong, and end.’ The ‘end’ of ‘immediate, strong, and end’ refers to the North Korean regime and its leadership. If they provoke, the regime will face its end.”

On the 13th, Reuters reported, “As North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a uranium enrichment facility and demanded more weapons-grade material to bolster his nuclear arsenal, North Korea released images of centrifuges that produce nuclear bomb fuel for the first time on the 13th.” “The first images of centrifuges were included in state-run media reports on Kim Jong-un’s visit to the nuclear weapons research institute and the weapons-grade nuclear material production site, providing a rare opportunity to look into North Korea’s nuclear program, which is banned under several UN Security Council resolutions.” “The new type of centrifuge shows that North Korea is developing its fuel cycle capability,” Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Reuters. “Kim Jong Un has suggested that North Korea’s tactical nuclear weapons design could rely primarily on uranium, and it is notable that North Korea could be building up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium compared to the more complex process of plutonium.”

“North Korea has previously shown photographs of what it claims to be nuclear warheads, and has conducted six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017,” Reuters reported. “An estimate of the number of North Korean nuclear weapons came in July from a Federation of American Scientists report that estimated that North Korea has produced enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads, and concluded that it could assemble about 50.”

Recent satellite imagery analysis by 38 North showed that North Korea has about 50 nuclear weapons. North Korea’s latest ballistic missile submarine (SSB), the Sinpo-C class submarine, is reportedly undergoing a period of extensive maintenance at Sinpo South Shipyard,” the report said. “Chairman Kim visited the shipyard separately and instructed that national investment in shipbuilding be increased so that immediate tasks and long-term plans for laying the foundation for the development of the shipbuilding industry can proceed as scheduled.”

Yomiuri reported on the 13th that “The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 13th that North Korea test-fired a 600mm caliber rocket. The date and time of the test were not disclosed, but it is known that it hit an island in the Sea of ​​Japan.” “The Japanese government announced on the 12th that North Korea fired at least two ballistic missiles from the west coast to the northeast, and this test is interpreted as referring to this,” the report said.

Yomiuri continued, “According to the report, the purpose of the test was to verify the performance of a new mobile launcher, and General Secretary Kim Jong-un participated,” and “The launcher was manufactured by the National Defense Industrial Corporation (NIIC), which is in charge of weapons production. “It was developed by the US-based Rocket Enterprise and the entire process up to launching the rocket is fully automated,” the North’s Central News Agency reported, adding that the launcher operation test and rapid-fire test “clearly demonstrated excellent combat performance.”