North Korea to Deploy Nuclear Weapons to Navy Amid US–Japan–South Korea Joint Drills

A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul on May 31, 2023. Jung Yeon Je/AFP via Getty Images

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed on Aug. 29 to bolster his navy’s combat readiness with nuclear capabilities as the United States, Japan, and South Korea began their trilateral ballistic missile defense drills.

During a visit to the North Korean navy headquarters, Mr. Kim said that military units of different services “would be equipped with new weaponry according to the policy of expanding the tactical nuclear weapons operation.”

He vowed to make the navy “a component of the state nuclear deterrence,” which will “play the biggest role” in defending the country’s sovereignty, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.

“It is only possible to defend the security of the country with a fully prepared naval force,” the North Korean leader said.

Mr. Kim also condemned the growing trilateral military cooperation between the United States, Japan, and South Korea, accusing them of turning the Korean Peninsula into “the world’s biggest war hardware concentration spot” through their joint military drills.

The United States has repeatedly said that its joint exercises with South Korea and Japan are defensive in nature and are designed to enhance alliance commitments to ensure stability in the region.

Trilateral Ballistic Missile Defense Drill

The three allied nations conducted a trilateral ballistic missile defense exercise—involving guided-missile destroyers USS Benfold, Japan’s JS Haguro, and South Korea’s Yulgok Yi I—in the East China Sea on Aug. 29.

Capt. Tomohiro Tomimatsu, the commanding officer of the Haguro, said the joint exercise enabled them to practice connecting networks between the Aegis ships and sharing information on ballistic missiles.

They aim to enhance trilateral cooperation in responding to regional security threats, given the “increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan,” according to Japan’s Defense Ministry.

“North Korea’s ballistic missile test launch seriously threatens peace and security of Japan, East Asia, and the international community, and is totally unacceptable,” the ministry said in a statement.

The trilateral drills came after North Korea attempted to launch a spy satellite into orbit on Aug. 24, which failed “due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight.”

This marked North Korea’s second attempt to launch a spy satellite in three months. The first try, on May 31, ended with a crash into the West Sea of Korea shortly after takeoff because of an engine malfunction.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that North Korea’s satellite launch was “a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions that raise tensions and risks destabilizing regional security.”

North Korea’s Missile Testing Spree

Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea has carried out more than 100 weapons tests, many of which have involved nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike the United States, South Korea, and Japan.

Experts believe that North Korea aims to use its boosted military capabilities to wrest greater concessions from the United States.

This photo, provided by North Korea, shows what it says is an underwater blast of a test warhead loaded to an unmanned underwater nuclear attack craft during an exercise around Hongwon Bay in waters off North Korea's eastern coast on March 23, 2023. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

North Korea’s testing spree has forced the United States and South Korea to expand their drills, resume trilateral training involving Japan, and enhance “regular visibility” of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula. In July, the United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in four decades.

Earlier this month, U.S., Japanese, and South Korean leaders held their first stand-alone trilateral summit at Camp David—located in Maryland, about 70 miles northwest of Washington—during which they agreed to share real-time information on North Korean missile launches by the year’s end and to hold annual trilateral exercises.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.