North Korea’s 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau, an agency involved in nuclear test-related design and construction, has recently taken over command of a new unit. This development suggests that the country is concentrating even more resources into conducting a seventh and even eighth nuclear test.
According to a high-ranking Daily NK source in North Korea last Friday, North Korean authorities recently placed the First Brigade’s Seventh Regiment under the command of the 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau.
The decision to do so was made during last month’s Third Enlarged Meeting of the Eighth Central Military Commission.
The First Brigade’s Seventh Regiment has been under the direct control of the Central Committee. It existed outside the command of the Ministry of Defense, General Staff Department or Supreme Guard Command. Instead, it has long received orders directly from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The First Brigade has usually been tasked with building villas and hospitals connected to the Kim family, while its Seventh Regiment has sometimes handled specialized construction related to nuclear or missile tests.
Meanwhile, the 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau, nominally under the Workers’ Party of Korea, is under direct command of the Munitions Industry Department. The bureau is directly involved in the construction of nuclear facilities and the development of uranium mines.
The bureau’s duties are more technically advanced than those of the First Brigade’s Seventh Regiment. The source told Daily NK, however, that the Seventh Regiment enjoys better treatment because it receives its orders directly from Kim Jong Un.
The recent move to put the Central Committee’s own technical construction unit under the 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau appears aimed at concentrating personnel and technology into preparations for a nuclear-related test.
In fact, the Seventh Regiment has already been deployed to Punggye-ri, Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, where preparations are underway for the country’s seventh nuclear test, according to the source.
He explained that the Seventh Regiment’s placement under the 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau was due to inefficiencies that arose from the bifurcated command structure while the two units worked together in Punggye-ri.
“The Seventh Regiment was transferred to the 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau because it is not the only unit that can take on construction work ordered by the Central Committee,” the source explained.
The sudden decision to place the Seventh Regiment — which used to receive its orders directly from Kim Jong Un — under the 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau suggests North Korea’s leadership is keen to move forward with preparations for a nuclear test.
The 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau and Seventh Regiment are now carrying out their duties at the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri. Even though work on Tunnel No. 3 is now complete, the units are now involved in work that the source was unable to specify.
“All preparations have been completed so that a nuclear test can be carried out at any time,” said the source. “But seeing how the 131st Nuclear Guidance Bureau and Seventh Regiment haven’t been withdrawn – and have recently been given more work to do – suggests [the authorities] are preparing for a series of nuclear tests.”
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