All that stands between North Korea and a third nuclear test is the order to conduct it, according to South Korean Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan Jin.
Kim, who was speaking with reporters at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on the 2nd, explained, “They’ve been steadily preparing for a nuclear test for some time now; all that is needed is for the order to conduct it to be handed down. Because North Korea sees possession of a combination of nuclear and ICBM capabilities as its international political power, it is always going to be important to take the chance to show that off.”
“If additional international community sanctions are arrived at then this could create the conditions for a nuclear test,” he acknowledged, but asserted also, “If the pressure were to be great enough they would not be able to do it.”
Elsewhere, Kim also commented on Kim Jong Eun’s New Year’s Address, delivered on North Korean TV and radio on the morning of the 1st, saying, “It seems to be part of the Kim Il Sung image-making thing, and does not mean that the national security threat has disappeared. They seem to think that since North Korea is a hereditary dynasty, ‘Kim Il Sung image-making’ can be useful for them domestically.”
Kim also attacked the National Assembly’s decision to cut defense spending for the coming fiscal year in favor of welfare spending, declaring that it is inappropriate to cut defense expenditure at the current time.
“It is not desirable to cut the security budget and divert it to other purposes,” Kim said, adding, “In the current environment, national security is profoundly significant.”
