NUCLEAR THREAT
with agents such as mustard, phosgene, sarin, and VX. 11 On February 13, DPRK agents used a binary VX to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, the older half- brother of Kim Jong Un.
On an interesting note, the U.S. fielded man-portable atomic demolitions in the early ‘60s, including the T-4 Atomic Demolition Munition. The T-4 was derived from the Mark 9 atomic projectile, and consisted of four 40-pound components, carried to the target by a special forces, SEAL, or ADM platoon, where it was then assembled and the timer mechanism activated. Yield of the gun-type ADM was around 15 kilotons, and fielding such a device is within the realm of possibility for DPRK unconventional forces. 12 Fielding such a device is within the realm of possibility for DPRK unconventional forces. 6 Strategic Air Command Historical Study 73, Volume 1, 1 Jan 58-30 June 58, pp. 78-79. Declassified from Top Secret Restricted Data. "History of the Mark 6 Bomb", by Sandia Corporation, November 1967, glossary. Declassified from Secret Restricted Data. 7 RDD-8, p. 74. Additionally, the U.S. extensively tested weapons for one-point safety during the Cold War era. 9 “Kwangmyongsong 4” data on Gunter’s Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kwangmyongsong-4.htm 10 "The Newest North Korean Nuclear ICBM 'Hwasong-14' (HS-14)" by Robert Brugge. http://www.b14643.de/ Spacerockets/Specials/Hwasong-14/index.htm 11 "38 North", an in-depth website detailing military, economic, and political developments in the DPRK. http://www.38north.org/ 12 Information on the T-4 ADM from "History of the Mk 54 Warhead", p. 17. Sandia Corporation, Albuqurque, NM, no date. Declassified from Secret Restricted Data. 13 "Test 184- The 1962 EMP Test over Kazakhstan" by Jerry Emanuelson. http://www.futurescience.com/emp/test184.html 8 RDD-8, p. 70.
Special Operations The North maintains around 180,000 special- operations commandos with a wide range of infiltration methods. While the full range of their capabilities are outside the scope of this article, the DPRK has continually used covert means to infiltrate the South since the Korean Armistice of 1953, resulting in bombings, assassinations, and terrorist attacks. 1 IAEA Board Report: Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 8 November 2011. 2 “Hypothetically, a mass of four kilograms of plutonium or uranium-233 is sufficient for one nuclear explosive device.” Restricted Data Declassification Decision 8, p.23. U.S. Department of Energy, 1 Jan 2002. Unclassified. Hereafter references as RDD-8. The note on U-235 quantity in a gun assembled weapon is contained in the US DOE Office of Declassification determination dated August 19, 2014 “Declassification of sufficiency of 52.5 kg of U-235 for a gun-type weapon; Specific Materials\Uranium” by Under Secretary Matthew Moury. 3 “The fact that the 280 mm and 8 inch gun-type nuclear weapons contain four rings” and “The fact that in the 280 mm gun-type nuclear weapons, the projectile (solid cylinder) is fired into the target rings” is in RDD-8, p. 73. This information was declassified in 1964 as part of an espionage case. 4 A sanitized development of U.S. nuclear weapons is featured in numerous declassified videos by U.S. DOE Historical Films, specifically the series "Atomic Weapons Orientation", parts 1-4, and the Operation Castle series. Many of these videos are featured on Youtube.com.
5 RDD-8, p. 74.
42 | August 2017
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