North Korea is ready to conduct its seventh nuclear test if leader Kim Jong Un gives the green light, South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Newsweek has contacted the North Korean Embassy in China for comment.
Why It Matters
North Korea has pushed ahead with its development of nuclear weapons and the missiles with which to strike its perceived enemies, including the United States, despite sanctions and efforts over the years to engage it in negotiations in exchange for sanctions relief.
The Kim regime is estimated to possess about 50 warheads. A nuclear test would presumably enable North Korea to make technological advances, but it would also alarm its neighbors, including old ally China, and could be a setback for tentative efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to reopen talks with Kim.
The suspicion that North Korea might be preparing another underground nuclear test comes days after Trump announced that in light of what he described as nuclear testing by other countries, the United States would resume nuclear testing “on an equal basis.”
What To Know
North Korea has conducted six underground nuclear tests since 2006, the most recent in 2017.
If Kim were to decide to go ahead with a seventh test at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, it could be conducted very quickly, South Korean legislators Park Sun-won and Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after a closed-door briefing by the South Korean Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
North Korea also appears to be beefing up efforts to secure nuclear material and is establishing various types of manufacturing facilities for nuclear warheads, according to the intelligence agency.
Only North Korea has conducted a nuclear test detonation this century. Russia and China have tested delivery systems but not warheads.
Beijing and Moscow have intensified their nuclear weapons programs in recent years, but neither has confirmed violation of a testing moratorium.
Western officials and experts believe Russia has offered a helping hand to North Korea’s military programs.
The suspicion about an imminent North Korean nuclear test comes a day after another South Korean intelligence agency said Kim was willing to meet Trump and could do so early next year.
Trump met Kim three times during his first term in a failed effort to persuade the North Korean leader to roll back his United Nations-sanctioned nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief.
What People Are Saying
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a speech on October 10: “In order to cope with the growing nuclear war threats by the U.S. imperialists, [North Korea] had to lead the people to make a new leap forward in socialist construction while simultaneously carrying on economic construction and buildup of the nuclear forces.”
What Happens Next
Trump told reporters on October 24 that he was open to a meeting with Kim, citing their “great relationship.” It remains unclear when such a meeting might take place, and whether concessions would be on the table without steps toward denuclearization.