(CNN) — North Korea claims to have miniaturized nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles, North Korea’s state-run Korea Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
KCNA reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with nuclear scientists and technicians who briefed him on “research conducted to tip various type tactical and strategic ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.”
David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security told CNN’s Brian Todd on Monday that his group thinks the North Koreans had probably already miniaturized a warhead.
North Korea on Sunday warned it would make a “pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike” in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began Monday.
The proclamation follows last week’s sanctions announced by the 15-member U.N. Security Council.
Discussions about new sanctions started after North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in January, its fourth nuclear test.
Then, in February, Pyongyang said it had successfully launched an Earth satellite into orbit via the long-range Kwangmyongsong carrier rocket.
The Security Council called those moves “violations and flagrant disregard” of previous resolutions.
On Friday, KCNA reported that Kim said his country’s “nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time.”
“Under the extreme situation that the U.S. imperialist is misusing its military influence and is pressuring other countries and people to start war and catastrophe, the only way for our people to protect sovereignty and rights to live is to strengthen the quality and quantity of nuclear power and realize the balance of power,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
This rhetoric came out a day after the news agency reported tests of a new multiple-launch rocket system. This may or may not be referring to a launch of “short-range projectiles” chronicled one day earlier by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Pyongyang has long boasted about its nuclear ambitions, about as long as South Korea and the United States have sought to derail them. The issue has only furthered the isolation of North Korea, a communist, closed-off state led for decades by the authoritarian Kim, his late father and his grandfather.
A chief concern is not only that Pyongyang will develop effective nuclear warheads, but that they’ll pair them with missiles that can strike targets around East Asia and perhaps beyond.
CNN’s Judy Kwon, Greg Botelho, Dana Ford and Dakota Flournoy contributed to this report
This story was first published on CNN.com, “North Korea claims to have nuclear warheads that can fit on missiles”
