Skip to content

February 16, 1976

Memorandum, Hungarian Foreign Ministry

This document was made possible with support from ROK Ministry of Unification

Before the Hungarian health delegation headed by Comrade Medve visited Korea, I received O Seonggwan, the third secretary of the Korean Embassy, and Li Eungi, the Korean deputy military attaché, and asked them for information about the situation in Korea. At that time we agreed to meet again after the visit of the delegation. This occurred on 13 February 1976.


[…]


In their opinion, Korea cannot be unified in a peaceful way. They [the North Koreans] are prepared for war. If a war occurs in Korea, it will be waged with nuclear weapons, rather than conventional ones. The DPRK is prepared for such a contingency: the country has been turned into a system of fortifications, important factories have been moved underground (for instance, recently they relocated the steelworks in Kangson), and airfields, harbors, and other military facilities have been established in the subterranean cave networks. The Pyongyang subway is connected with several branch tunnels, which are currently closed but in case of emergency they are able to place the population of Pyongyang there.


By now the DPRK also has nuclear warheads and carrier missiles, which are targeted at the big cities of South Korea and Japan, such as Seoul, Tokyo, and Nagasaki, as well as local military bases such as Okinawa. When I asked whether the Korean People's Army had received the nuclear warheads from China, they replied that they had developed them unaided through experimentation, and they had manufactured them by themselves.


[…]


István Garajszki

메드베 동지가 이끄는 헝가리보건부 대표단이 조선을 방문하기 이전에, 나는 조선대사관 3등 서기관 오성완, 조선군수행원을 만나 조선의 상황에 대해 문의했다. 우리는 방문 후 다시 만나기로 했다. (1976년 2월 13일)

 

그들은 한반도가 평화로운 방식으로는 통일할 수 없을 것이라고 생각하고 있었다. 조선민주주의인민공화국은 전쟁을 대비하고 있고, 만약 전쟁이 일어난다면, 핵전쟁이 될 것이라고 했다. 조선민주주의인민공화국은 요새화를 추진하고 있다. 예를 들어 강선의 제강소가 최근 재배치 되는 등 중요 시설이 지하로 옮겨졌고, 비행장과 항구, 기타 군사시설은 지하동굴망에 배치되었다. 평양의 지하철은 몇 개의 지하터널로 연결되어 있는데, 이 터널은 현재 폐쇄되어 있지만 위급 시에는 평양시민을 수용할 수 있는 시설이다.

 

조선민주주의인민공화국은 핵탄두와 캐리어미사일을 보유하고 있고, 서울, 도쿄, 나가사키는 물론 오키나와와 같은 군사시설이 목표물이다. 내가 그들에게 핵탄두를 중국으로부터 받았는지 묻자 그들은 이를 자체 개발하여 제작했다고 답했다.

 

István Garajszki

 

Korean Officials meet with the Hungarian Foreign Ministry. The North Koreans believe Korea can not be reunited peacefully, and that the DPRK is prepared for a nuclear war.

Author(s):


Document Information

Source

MOL, XIX-J-1-j Korea, 1976, 83. doboz, 6, 002134/1976. Obtained and translated for NKIDP by Balazs Szalontai.

Rights

The History and Public Policy Program welcomes reuse of Digital Archive materials for research and educational purposes. Some documents may be subject to copyright, which is retained by the rights holders in accordance with US and international copyright laws. When possible, rights holders have been contacted for permission to reproduce their materials.

To enquire about this document's rights status or request permission for commercial use, please contact the History and Public Policy Program at HAPP@wilsoncenter.org.

Original Uploaded Date

2011-11-20

Type

Memorandum

Language

Record ID

111471

Donors

ROK Ministry of Unification