North Korea created a "nuclear backpack" military unit in March, according to Radio Free Asia. / Yonhap



By Lee Jin-a, Park Si-soo

North Korea's military is said to have established a "nuclear backpack" corps whose members are trained to infiltrate South Korea to detonate a nuclear bomb.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported the corps' establishment on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources in North Hamgyong Province. Details of the unit are unknown and the credibility of sources is questionable.

But what if the corps does exist? That means the North's nuclear weapons technology has advanced to where it can reduce the size of a nuclear bomb to that of a backpack. A miniaturized nuclear weapon could be carried by ground soldiers or loaded onto a long-range missile, which would pose a grave security threat to South Korea and its allies, including the United States.

The South Korean government does not believe the North's nuclear technology has advanced to that level yet.

RFA said the corps' members did not know what the nuclear backpack looks like. "They receive training with three types of fake bombs," RFA quoted an unidentified source. "The regime is telling the soldiers that backpacks are not designed to detonate nuclear bombs, but to spread radioactive substances over a wide area."

In October, the North showed soldiers wearing backpacks bearing the radiation symbol during a military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the North's Workers' Party. Similar backpacks were seen during a military parade in 2013.