North Korea said Wednesday it has succeeded in miniaturizing its nuclear weapons, a development which could allow them to be delivered by missile.
"It has been a long time since we began miniaturizing and diversifying our means of nuclear strike," the powerful National Defence Commission said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea has made dubious claims about weapons before. Experts recently determined that photos purporting to show a North Korean missile being launched from a submarine were altered by government propagandists.
But a top US general stated last year that North Korea had likely figured out how to miniaturize nuclear weapons that could be placed on top of a rocket.
While news coming out of North Korea is always difficult to verify, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the commander of US forces on the Korean peninsula, said in October that he believes North Korea has "the capability to miniaturize a device at this point and they have the technology to actually deliver what they say they have."
The US had not, however, seen any evidence of North Korea testing miniaturized nuclear weapons. And experts note that successfully fitting miniaturized warheads on a ballistic missile is difficult and an actual launch might still be beyond North Korea's capabilities.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said this week that North Korea has "not even come close" to reining in its nuclear program enough to merit talks with the US. Kerry noted that North Korea "continues to pursue nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles" and said the US is considering implementing further sanctions against the oppressive dictatorship.
Scaparrotti pointed out that North Korea has relationships with Iran and Pakistan, both of which have nuclear programs.
The US is currently negotiating with Iran to monitor and restrict its nuclear program and prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Pakistan already has nuclear weapons.
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