In case your plate wasn't already full enough with hot wars in Ukraine and Gaza and another one potentially brewing in the Straits of Taiwan, would you care for yet another flareup for dessert? It would appear that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is growing tired of being ignored in the midst of all that other action and he's rattling his sabers again. Specifically, he's rattling his nuclear sabers. As usual, he's finding a way to blame the United States for the unrest, calling out America for recently conducting subcritical nuclear tests at the Nevada National Security Site. Kim hasn't launched anything in response yet, but his spokesman declared that they will "not allow a strategic imbalance and security vacuum" on the Korean peninsula. (Newsweek)

North Korea has accused the United States of a "dangerous act" and of hypocrisy following a recent subcritical nuclear test.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will not allow a strategic imbalance and security vacuum to be created on the Korean peninsula," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday, using the country's official name.

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced last week it had successfully experimented the Nevada National Security Site.

The North Koreans are accusing the United States of having "no right to comment on anyone's threat of nuclear war" because we've conducted more such tests than anyone else and are the only country to have dropped nukes on populated areas. (While I hate to say it, they've sort of got a point there.) They also point out that we recently moved two of our nuclear subs to South Korea last year, potentially with nuclear weapons onboard. That's also true, but the Pentagon never confirms if anyone is packing live nukes. Besides that, South Korea is our ally and that's none of North Korea's business.

The tests that the Pentagon has been conducting are interesting, despite them causing Kim to pull his hair out. They are called subcritical nuclear tests because the fissile materials being used never reach criticality or produce a sustained reaction. (You can find more information on that process at the link from the Los Alamos Study Group.) What they are doing is creating all of the conditions required to produce a nuclear detonation without including the core that would detonate in an actual weapon. We've been observing a moratorium on live nuclear weapons testing since 1992. Also, Russia has already chimed in and said that the subcritical tests don't violate the treaty. 

We unfortunately need to be upgrading our arsenal of nukes because both Russia and China have been doing the same and we really can't afford to fall behind. But why is Kim Jong-un getting all bent out of shape about this now? We're conducting the tests in Nevada, not on the Korean peninsula. Is he afraid we're going to blow up a cactus? Also, I did some checking of the news archives and I don't find any record of Kim complaining when Russia and China conduct these sorts of tests or move their nukes around. This is a completely hypocritical position for North Korea to take and it only serves to further stir the pot at a time when the globe is engulfed in enough tension.

Kim Jong-un is just seeking attention and throwing a tantrum at this point. He should be able to be safely ignored because we already have bigger fish to fry. He has long been desperate to be recognized as a legitimate leader and international figure. That's why he became so cooperative when Donald Trump expressed a willingness to meet with him. He also needs to keep his people living in fear of some sneak attack on North Korea by the Americans. He hopes that distraction will keep their attention elsewhere and not on the vast numbers of their own neighbors who are being locked up in Kim's labor camps or dying from starvation.