North Korea’s new threat comes from the sea

With the usual triumphant tone Pyongyang announced the success of the missile test carried out by launching from a submarine, it would be a new type of ballistic carrier whose construction would be part of the North Korean program of the construction of increasingly advanced weapons. According to the rhetoric of the regime, the missile apparatus would be equipped with sophisticated technologies for guidance and control and would represent the evolution of the armament launched about five years ago, in the first test relating to a sea-land ballistic armament. This armament could represent a strategic threat to the region and beyond, because the missile would be able to easily cross the distance of the Korean peninsula. The mobility capacity ensured by an unstable launch pad placed on a submarine represents an offensive potential capable, potentially, of hitting different targets and the possibility of arming it with nuclear warheads increases the threat of North Korea’s danger, not in the regional scenario, but also in the global one. However, according to some analysts, the fact that the same submarine used in the test five years earlier was used could indicate that the progress made in the launch phase was very scarce and not sufficiently compensated by the increased danger of the new missile carrier; in fact, to be able to exert pressure with such a weapon, the potential of the missile alone does not seem sufficient, but also the capacity of the launch base: the sum of these two factors can provide the real potential of the threat, moreover it would seem that the submarine used as a launch pad has the ability to launch only one ballistic missile at a time and does not have the ability to operate continuously underwater, having the need to emerge frequently. If these news are true, the operational and, therefore, strategic capacity of the underwater vessel would be considerably reduced, especially when compared with the possibilities, for example, of American nuclear submarines, which will be supplied to Australia. In any case, even a single launch, if managed well, can hit sensitive targets or have the ability to alter balances which, at the moment, appear very fragile; however, with a vehicle that has these limitations, it is not possible to hope to lead a conflict, because a possible reaction of more organized military apparatuses would be able to crush all ambitions of the North Korean country. The situation must be framed more in political rather than military terms, also taking into account all the elements of the scenario. The launch of the missile takes place at a difficult time because both Korean countries are protagonists of a strong rearmament policy, which generates a sort of balance of terror between the two states, where provocations can create accidents capable of dangerous reactions; furthermore, the dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang has been stalled for too long. As always, in these cases, one has to wonder why North Korea has launched just now; the reasons can be multiple, certainly the state of need of North Korea, always in a situation of serious economic and humanitarian crisis, could make us think of yet another expedient to try to obtain aid through the only known means, which is that of threat and blackmail, which, moreover, did not work too much, at least on the western side, while as regards China, Beijing’s attitude has always kept a non-linear trend; if this consideration is true, however, only one part of the answer appears, while another possible one must probably be sought in the confrontation between China and the US, where North Korea could try to carve out an important place near Beijing; it should be remembered that recent developments in the Pacific assets see China in a position of isolation against the union of Western powers. In this context, an ungovernable leading role of Pyongyang could be functional in Beijing, which we must remember is the only ally of the North Korean country and which does not seem to have had reactions to the missile launch. The current Pacific scenario could favor a crazy variable role for North Korea and guarantee the continuation of the Pyongyang dictatorship, precisely because of its usefulness for Chinese purposes: a short-term project probably considered sufficient, for now, by Kim Jong-un.