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China-Japan-Koreas
In Charge of N.Korea's Nuclear Weapons
2011-12-26
New North Korean leader Pudgy Kim Jong-un is taking control of the renegade country's nuclear weapons, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told the National Assembly's Defense Committee last Tuesday. "It also seems that Kim Jong-un has the final say on nuclear weapons considering that the power is being handed over to him now," he added.

Kim Jong-un is vice chairman of the Workers Party's Central Military Commission, which now commands the military.

A South Korean intelligence officer said the North Korean military attaches the greatest importance to the nuclear arms, and Kim Jong-un is now in charge of them. The regime is believed to have about 50 kg of plutonium extracted and up to 10 nuclear bombs, and there was some anxiety abroad who would control them in the power vacuum after former leader Kim Jong-il died.

But some experts say the 29-year-old Sonny Boy Kim Jong-un has no military background and cannot really be in charge of the nuclear arms.
He doesn't have any experience in much of anything.
He is nominally only a vice chairman of the commission, appointed alongside Ri Yong-ho, the chief of General Staff. One South Korean government official speculated that Ri probably controls the regime's weapons of mass destruction, including any nuclear bombs.

Others believe the commission is collectively in control because it includes all the top military brass. They believe that the first thing the regime did after Kim Jong-il's death was to ensure control of the nuclear weapons.
On behalf of China, of course...
Different agencies in the North take charge of nuclear development and testing, nuclear weapons management and nuclear facilities security. Nuclear development is conducted by the party's Machine-Building Industry Department (formerly Munitions Industry Department). This is why the international community imposed sanctions on Ju Kyu-chang, its director, and Jon Byong-ho, a former director of the Machine-Building Industry Department who is currently director of the Politburo.

But the nuclear weapons are reportedly kept and managed by the General Staff led by Ri Yong-ho, which has actual operational control of troops. Security at nuclear facilities, including the Yongbyon uranium enrichment facility, is the job of the State Security Department and the Military Security Command. Kim Jong-il reportedly wanted to prevent nuclear information from being concentrated in any single agency.

A source familiar with the North's internal affairs said, "It seems highly likely that Kim Jong-il trained his son how to manage the nuclear weapons."
Posted by:Steve White

#3  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Gleregum tse Tung1512   2011-12-26 17:57  

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Posted by: trailing wife   2011-12-26 07:39  

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Posted by: BernardZ   2011-12-26 04:32  

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