"If there is a nuclear war, those shelters won't be much use."
I would agree that would be the case in urban areas, but, as shown by the recent election, most of the US is not urban.
The rural, and especially suburban, population would benefit dramatically from small blast/fallout shelters and some plentiful food and supplies, especially if there was a more limited nuclear war, such as would occur with China.
It is shameful that the urbanites managed to sell the suburbanites and rural folks on the myth that nuclear preparation is a bad thing.
I think that the real import of the article is that if you believe these analysts, then the Chinese apparently have an intent to engage in nuclear war, and perhaps they think that these shelters will work. It really says nothing about whether they actually will.
Personally, I think both of the conclusions are nutso. More likely, if it means anything, it simply means that they've figured out that like Jung-Il, they can manipulate the American thought processes and cause histeria over here by doing meaningless things like this.