How powerful is North Korea really? A look at its military, missiles and nuclear weapons

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has rung in the new year in his own inimitable way – by ordering an ‘exponential’ increase of his country’s nuclear arsenal. The edict comes just days after the country fired three short-range ballistic missiles on 31 December – going out with a final bang in a year that has already witnessed a record number of tests – and amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Let’s take a closer look at what we know about North Korea’s military, its missiles, its nuclear arsenal and why Kim is making such a move: North Korea’s military As per CRF.org, North Korea, with 1.3 million active personnel, has the fourth largest military in the world. Nearly five per cent of the populace are in the military with another 600,000 in the reserves. The country’s constitution requires military service from all citizens. “National defence is the supreme duty and honour of citizens,” it states.

The US state department pegged North Korea’s yearly spending on its military as $4 billion from 2009 to 2019.

That’s nearly a quarter of the country’s GDP. Missile man In 2021, North test-fired more than 70 missiles, including three short-range ballistic missiles detected by South Korea. Under Kim, North Korea has conducted 160 missile tests – far more than his father and grandfather – with more than 100 ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads, CRF.org reported. As per BBC, North Korea has tested several ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles including the Hwasong-17 missile, Hwasong-14, Hwasong-12 and the KN-23. The  Hwasong-17 missile is thought to have a range in excess of 15,000 kilometres and can possibly carry three or four warheads. The Hwasong-15 missile, with a 13,000 kilometre range, can target the continental United States. [caption id=“attachment_11907171” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea’s rocket with the test satellite during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. AP[/caption] The Hwasong-14 ballistic missile, which can fly from 8,000 to 10,000 kilometres, could hit New York city. The Hwasong 12, with a 4,5000 kilometre range, could hit Guam in the Pacific, as per BBC. Nukes, nukes, nukes Kim in 2021 proclaimed that his goal was to make his country most powerful nuclear force. He also declared the North an “irreversible” nuclear state. As per The New York Times, it is becoming clearer that arsenal continues to grow ever more sophisticated and its number of nuclear warheads are increasing. In truth, no one knows exactly how many nuclear weapons North Korea has. But its weapons can reach Japan, South Korea and now even the United States, experts say. North Korea conducted at least six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017 – four of them under Kim. That final test, its more powerful yet, saw North Korea claiming to have detonated a thermonuclear, or hydrogen, bomb.

Experts placed the device’s explosive power between 50 and 300 kilotons.

For reference, the  estimated yield of the Hiroshima bomb, dropped in 1945, was around 16 kilotons. The newspaper quoted the Arms Control Association as saying it had enough material for 40 to 50 nukes as of 2021 and could produce six or seven bombs per year. But some say that is a conservative estimate. CFR.org quoted a 2021 RAND Corporation report as saying the country could have 200 nuclear weapons by 2022. Why is Kim making this move? Because he has witnessed how dictators and strongmen without nuclear weapons such as Saddam Hussain and Muammar Gaddafi have been treated by the West. As per BBC, Kim has three main motives – to test and improve technology, send the world a message and to keep its citizens in line. However, others believe Kim may have other motives in mind including the detonation of a seventh nuclear weapon – the first since 2017 – or even an attack on South Korea.

Kim Jong-dae, a former advisor in South Korea’s Defence Ministry, is concerned.

More from Explainers

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar Giorgio Armani will: Who will get the inheritance? What happens to his fashion empire?

“We have never seen this audacity and aggression before, it is different. It is the North acting like a nuclear state,” he told BBC. [caption id=“attachment_11820811” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government shows the test-firing of what it says a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on 18 November. AP[/caption] Experts say Kim’s moves are in line with the broad direction of his nuclear program. He has repeatedly vowed to boost both the quality and quantity of his arsenal to cope with what he calls US hostility. “We’re going to have to learn to live with North Korea’s ability to target the United States with nuclear weapons,” Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies, told CFR.org. Some experts say Kim’s push to produce more nuclear and other weapons signals his intention to continue a run of weapons tests and ultimately solidify his future negotiating power and win greater outside concessions. “They are now keen on isolating and stifling (North Korea), unprecedented in human history,” Kim said at a recently ended key ruling party meeting, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. “The prevailing situation calls for making redoubled efforts to overwhelmingly beef up the military muscle.” “Kim’s comments from the party meeting reads like an ambitious — but perhaps achievable — New Year’s resolution list,” said Soo Kim, a security analyst at the California-based RAND Corporation. “It’s ambitious in that Kim consciously chose to spell out what he hopes to accomplish as we head into 2023, but it also suggests a dose of confidence on Kim’s part.” Kim’s identification of South Korea as an enemy and the mention of hostile US and South Korean policies is “a reliable pretext for the regime to produce more missiles and weapons to solidify Kim’s negotiating position and concretize North Korea’s status as a nuclear weapons power,” Soo Kim said. Some observers say Kim would eventually want to make North Korea a legitimate nuclear power so as to win the lifting of international sanctions and the end of the regular US-South Korean military drills that he views as a major security threat. “It was during his 2018 New Year’s speech that (Kim) first ordered the mass production of warheads and ballistic missiles, and he’s doubling down on that quantitative expansion goal in the coming year,” said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Panda said the reference to a new ICBM appears to concern a solid-propellant system, which could be tested soon. He said a satellite launch could take place in April, a month that includes a key state anniversary. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.