International Business Times:
North Korea might be able to develop intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the US mainland by 2020 at the latest, a South Korean think tank has said in its 2016 annual report.
The think tank also said that the reclusive state, led by Kim Jong-un, has already secured a technology to miniaturise nuclear warheads and load them onto its Scud and Nodong ballistic missiles to hit the US.
“The North is estimated to have succeeded in developing nuclear warheads on par with boosted fission weapons through its fourth and fifth nuclear tests,” the Institute for National Security Strategy under the National Intelligence Service said in its report released on Sunday (25 December).
The fifth nuclear test conducted by Pyongyang on 9 September was said to be the strongest so far. The blast, which also triggered a powerful earthquake, was measured at 10 to 20 kilotons, compared to the third test conducted in 2015 that measured 7.9 kilotons. The fourth test conducted in January this year measured 6 kilotons, Yonhap quoted the report as stating.
The seriousness of the North Korean nuclear programme lies in the rapid growth in the number of warheads, as well as its miniaturisation and diversification,” the report noted, referring to the increasing power of the recent nuclear tests.
