NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA RAISES THE PROSPECT OF WAR ON THE PENINSULA

China, or its ally Pakistan, likely passed the warhead design, or the warhead itself, to North Korea. China also contributed the transporter-erector-launcher truck used to transport North Korean missiles.

- JOHN DOBSON

You can always tell when a baby is irritated-it starts throwing its toys out of the pram. Judging from the number of rockets flying out of North Korea in recent months, Pyongyang is very irritated indeed.

Last Tuesday, North Korea confirmed that it successfully tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile "advanced control guidance technologies”, according to KCNA, its state news-outlet. North Korea has carried out a flurry of weapons tests in recent weeks, launching what it said were hypersonic and long-range weapons. As usual, Tuesday's timing was carefully calculated to coincide with an important event in South Korea, in this case the opening of a major arms fair in Seoul. Tuesday also happened to be the day that Japan kicked off its election campaign ahead of the general elections on 31 October. Although Kim Jong-un's North Korea is no friend of Tokyo, it's Seoul which is primarily in Kim's sights.

North Korea, of course, says its missiles are for selfdefence, and has accused South Korea and the United States of threatening its safety with joint military drills, arms purchases and other hostile policies. During recent years, North Korea has surged ahead in an inter-Korean arms race that has led to a proliferation of short-range missiles on the peninsula and left Pyongyang closer than ever to deploying tactical nuclear weapons. In the wake of the country's 2018 self-imposed moratorium on testing its larger intercontinental ballistic missiles, North Korea's year-long quest to develop precision missiles capable of evading detection and striking targets in South Korea has accelerated.