This year's Japanese defense white paper highlights that North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities pose a direct threat to its country.

In the defense white paper adopted by the Cabinet of Japan on the 14th, the North Korean government said, "North Korea already has the capability to attack the country (Japan) by implementing nuclear weapons miniaturization and warheadization and mounting them on ballistic missiles." "It seems to be."

◇ North Korea's nuclear/missile capability expression level has increased

year by year, and the Defense Ministry stated in the white paper last year that North Korea's nuclear and missile capability "appears to have achieved the miniaturization and warheadization of nuclear weapons." is.

Looking at the 2018 Defense White Paper, "You can think about the possibility of achieving the miniaturization and warheadization of nuclear weapons," you can see that the expression level of North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities is increasing every year.

This year, the Defense White Paper evaluated that North Korea seems to have reached the miniaturization of nuclear weapons to the extent that it can be mounted on ballistic missiles, and it also seems to have secured the technology of're-entering the atmosphere of warheads' necessary to increase the range of ballistic missiles.

When warheads separated from ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere re-enter the atmosphere, a tremendous amount of heat is generated, which is a difficult skill to overcome.

◇ ICBM nuclear warhead capability is "careful analysis required"

The white paper said, "In addition to the work that seems to have already been deployed, Scud-ER, it seems that the ballistic missiles that have placed Korea in the range of what North Korea calls "north polarity" and "north polarity-2" have already acquired the necessary (re-entry) skills. "I wrote.

In addition, he evaluated that "there is a need for continued careful analysis" as to whether the technology necessary for the commercialization of nuclear warhead vehicles with longer ranges, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), has been acquired.

If North Korea even acquires the technology to mount nuclear weapons on ICBM, it is expected that it will have the perception that it has secured strategic deterrence against the United States.

In this case, the military provocation by North Korea is likely to increase and become serious, which is also a concern for Japan.

◇ Allegations of "North Korea's new missiles attempt to break through the defense network" Pyongyang

's new types of tactical weapons (short-range ballistic missiles) that have been continually being tested and fired since last year have concealment and immediacy, such as difficulty in identifying the signs of the launch. He diagnosed that he seemed to be in the range.

Defense officials explained in a white paper through an online briefing the day before. "From May 2019, three new short-range ballistic missiles (proven by North Korea) use solid fuel, and they fly above the normal ballistic missile. With this, we are praying for a breakthrough in the missile defense network," he said. "There is also a possibility that advanced technology may be applied to missiles with a longer range."

In this regard, the Defense White Paper assessed that North Korea is obsessed with the complexity and diversification of its attack methods, creating new challenges for intelligence gathering, vigilance, and interception in neighboring countries, including Japan.

The range of the new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM)'North Pole-3', which North Korea test-fired on October 2, last year, was analyzed to be about 2,000 km.

◇ Intention to secure'enemy attack ability', controversial over the defense?

It is also analyzed that Japan's emphasis on North Korea's military threat in this year's defense white paper is intended to build a justification for discussions on the ability to attack the enemy base in the Abe Shinzo regime.

It is possible that North Korea could attack Japanese territory with a ballistic missile equipped with a nuclear warhead, leading to the logic that it should be able to attack the facility before the missile is launched.

The Abe regime is poised to begin a full-scale discussion of the ability to attack enemy bases, including the concept of preemptive strikes, after the deployment of the land-based ballistic missile interceptor system, the'Aegis Ashore' deployment, has recently become a technical problem.

However, there has been strong opposition to possessing the ability to attack enemy bases, even in Japan, contrary to the principle of defensive defense based on the peace constitution.

In this year's Defense White Paper, the Ministry of Defense said, "When defensive defense is the first time that an armed attack is taken by an opponent, the defense is passive for the first time, and the aspect is limited to the minimum necessary for self-defense. Defense strategy."

(Photo = Yonhap News)