N. Korea's border region designated as 'military

Kim Jong-un regime suspected of hiding nuclear weapons

By Yi Whan-woo


North Korea has designated its border region Chagang Province as a Special Songun (military-first) Revolutionary Zone, according to sources familiar with Pyongyang.

The region is mountainous, fueling speculation that North Korea, despite its promise to scrap its nuclear program, may seek to hide its atomic weapons there.

"The designation of the zone was discussed during a meeting involving the Ministry of State Security officials in April," a source said last week.

"Covering more than 6,400 square miles on North Korea's border with China, fully 98 percent of Chagang Province is mountainous.

"This means it is relatively sparsely populated and has plenty of opportunities for underground excavations to conceal stockpiles of weapons and facilities to conduct further research."

Another source said Pyongyang authorities were re-examining residents' ideological backgrounds and expelling anyone with a hint of belonging to the "hostile class."

A third source said additional fortifications were being built and new limits were being imposed on the movement of local residents, along with additional checkpoints on key roads.

The revelation coincided with the secretive state's invitation to journalists from South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and the U.K. last week to witness the "demolition" of its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri.

In 2013, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the domestic munitions industry to be moved underground to protect it from observation and attack.

"Most of the facilities are in Chagang Province and other remote inland areas and are partially or wholly underground to minimize damage in war", the NIS said in a report.

"Emergency shelters are being built near factories and plants and mobilization plans for persons and materials have already been completed to assure continued production even through the fires of war," the NIS said.

North Korea is believed to have up to 60 nuclear weapons. The regime touted nuclear bombs as the best guarantee of survival despite decades of negotiations, international sanctions and threats of war.

North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and conducted six nuclear tests since 2006.

It does not belong to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) or the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The North is also believed to operate a large chemical weapons program, although it has joined the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and Geneva Protocol, meaning it may maintain an offensive biological weapons program.


North Korea walks tightrope between US and China 2018-05-27 16:12  |  North Korea

很赞哦!（46978）