North Korea’s Military Buildup Isn’t Limited To Its Nukes

[Purveyor]

By Anna Fifield June 7 at 4:38 PM

TOKYO — North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons technology has been well demonstrated so far this year, with January’s nuclear test and numerous launches of missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.

But even as Kim Jong Un’s regime presses ahead with its nuclear program, it is investing considerable resources in upgrading its conventional facilities, according to satellite imagery.

“Lots of people say that if they have a nuclear deterrent, they won’t need conventional weapons,” said Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University who has an encyclopedic knowledge of North Korea’s geography. “But under the Kim Jong Un era, there has been a big increase in spending on the economic and conventional military side.”

Kim, who took over the running of the state after his father’s death at the end of 2011, has promoted a “byungjin,” or “simultaneous push,” policy of pursuing nuclear weapons advancement and economic growth at the same time.

This year’s nuclear test and the emphasis on the economy suggest this policy is still very much the priority. But this doesn’t mean that North Korea is taking its foot off the conventional-weapons pedal.

MORE...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/north-koreas-military-buildup-isnt-limited-to-its-nukes/2016/06/07/7473ed3c-2806-11e6-8329-6104954928d2_story.html

[tonyt53]

1. The very reason for more isolation of NK. Their economy is in the shithole.