North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered tests of a nuclear warhead and several types of ballistic rockets that can carry nuclear warheads in a “short time,” state media reported.
The announcement, published by the state-run KCNA news agency Tuesday, comes amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea last Thursday.
On Saturday, the United States and South Korea began an eight-week series of annual joint military exercises billed as the largest ever.
North Korea said last week that it would make a “pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike” in response to the exercises.
KCNA’s report Tuesday on the reported upcoming tests appears to be the latest in a string of combative statements and warnings coming from the North Korean regime in recent weeks.
North Korea conducted another nuclear test in Januaryand fired a rocket and satellite into space in February, moves that spurred tough sanctions from the U.N. Security Council this month.
A KCNA report earlier this month said North Korea claims to have miniaturized nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles.
The agency published photographs that appeared to show Kim visiting a facility where the warheads had been made to fit on ballistic missiles — the first time state media has released images showing its purported miniaturized weapons technology. CNN cannot independently confirm the photos’ veracity or the claims of the KCNA.
Credit: CNN
