North Korea gains Russian nuclear tech, escalating threat to South Korea

Defense Express reports.

North Korea's exchange of soldiers for nuclear technology with Russia is essentially a trade in "cannon fodder." In return, Pyongyang is reportedly receiving tactical nuclear weapons and submarine-launched missile systems, according to Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov.

Pyongyang’s acquisition of low-yield tactical nuclear weapons poses an extreme threat, particularly to South Korea. North Korea already has nuclear capabilities, with tests of atomic bombs in 2004 and thermonuclear weapons in 2017, and possesses up to 50 warheads. It also holds materials to create an additional 70-90, including 60-80 kg of plutonium and enriched uranium, according to SIPRI.

Given its current technology, North Korea is limited to deploying nuclear warheads on missiles, and even short-range ones like the KN-23 can strike all of South Korea. The KN-23 has a warhead capacity of 1,000 kg, and its Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 variant can carry up to 4.5 tons with a range of 320 km. Thus, miniaturization is not necessarily required.

North Korea may seek to develop smaller nuclear warheads for artillery shells. The U.S. and USSR developed such technology back in the 1950s-60s, with the Soviets producing 152-203 mm nuclear artillery shells and 240 mm mortar rounds. If North Korea achieves this, it could turn thousands of its 152-170 mm howitzers into carriers of weapons of mass destruction. Its M-1989 Koksan self-propelled gun, with a range of up to 60 km, could easily hit central Seoul.

These nuclear shells could range in power from 2-3 kilotons, based on Soviet-era examples, to 40 kilotons, comparable to U.S. weapons. North Korea’s goal would likely be city strikes, unlike tactical applications seen elsewhere.

For South Korea, this development would be disastrous. While Seoul has invested heavily in missile interception systems, countering nuclear artillery shells is nearly impossible. North Korea's artillery would be difficult to destroy before firing, and no technology currently exists to intercept such shells on a large scale. The time needed to push back North Korean artillery across the demilitarized zone would be critical, but difficult to achieve quickly.