North Korea to announce nuclear development COMPLETE to make it major global force
NORTH Korea is set to announce it is one of the biggest nuclear powers in the world with its weapons development programme now complete.
By CIARAN MCGRATH
Express.co.uk
Fri, Dec 22, 2017
Kim Jong-un is widely expected to make the announcement in days, upping World War 3 tensions further as the world grapples with how to the North Korea crisis.
Pyongyang launched its longest-range missile to date earlier this month and has conducted six nuclear tests this year, one of them rumoured to be a hydrogen bomb.
Speaking in September in the wake of the rumoured hydrogen bomb test, Tom Plant, director of nuclear policy at think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told Channel 4 news: “On the one hand it is a big deal. It is by far the biggest nuclear test that North Koren has ever conducted, substantially bigger. If it is a hydrogen bomb it is a serious technological step forward.
“On the other hand it does not change the nature of the challenge which we and the US face.”
However, given that the rogue state is shrouded in mystery, it is difficult to tell precisely what the current situation is, with United States defence secretary Jim Mattis believing North Korea is “not yet” a threat to his country.
There seems little doubt North Korea has made major progress in terms of developing nuclear weapons in recent years.
US scientist Professor Siegfried Hecker, who has visited its nuclear facilities on seven occasions, was once handed a jar of hot plutonium by way of proof, and estimates that North Korea has between 25 and 30 nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang has threatened to conduct a live test over the Pacific Ocean, although Professor Hecker believes this is an “empty threat” because of the risk of provoking a US retaliation.
There is certainly no doubt North Korea has developed an intercontinental missile. It is most recent test unveiled the Hwasong-15 for the first time, and with this reaching a higher altitude than any of its previous weapons, it now has an estimated range of 13,000 km (8,000 miles), according the missile expert Michael Elleman.
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