This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/nkorean-media-kim-says-country-has-miniaturized-warheads/2016/03/08/016154a4-e58c-11e5-a9ce-681055c7a05f_story.html

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
NKorean media: Kim says country has miniaturized warheads Kim Jong Un poses beside possible nuclear warhead mock up
(about 4 hours later)
PYONGYANG, North Korea — The official North Korean news agency says the communist country’s leader Kim Jong Un met his nuclear scientists for a briefing and declared he was greatly pleased that warheads had been miniaturized for use on ballistic missiles. SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has caused a new stir with photos on the front page of its ruling party newspaper Wednesday that show the country’s leader Kim Jong Un standing beside a purported mock-up of a miniaturized nuclear warhead during a meeting with his top nuclear scientists.
In a report dated Wednesday, the KCNA news agency said Kim told the nuclear researchers that the stronger the country’s nuclear strike capability, the more effective it will be as a deterrent to aggression. The Rodong Sinmun newspaper for the Workers’ Party said Kim met his nuclear scientists for a briefing on the status of their work and declared he was greatly pleased that warheads had been standardized and miniaturized for use on ballistic missiles.
Pyongyang has previously claimed it has nuclear warheads small enough to put on long-range missiles, but experts have questioned such claims. The party newspaper photos showed Kim and the scientists standing by what outside analysts say appears to be the model warhead — a small, silverish globe presented on a low table in a hangar with a ballistic missile or a model ballistic missile in the background.
North Korea warned Monday of pre-emptive nuclear strikes after the United States and South Korea began holding their biggest ever war games. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it was analyzing the objects shown in the North Korean photos.
Tensions remain high after North Korea’s recent nuclear test and rocket launch, which prompted the United Nations to adopt tough new sanctions. Pyongyang has previously said it has nuclear warheads small enough to put on long-range missiles, but experts have questioned such claims.
This was the first time the North has publicly portrayed what its designs look like, though it remains unclear whether the North has a functioning warhead of that size or if it is simply trying to develop one.
North Korea warned Monday of pre-emptive nuclear strikes after the United States and South Korea began holding their biggest-ever war games, which will go on until the end of April. Tensions have been high after North Korea’s recent nuclear test and rocket launch, which prompted the United Nations to adopt tough new sanctions.
The North claims it tested its first H-bomb in the Jan. 6 nuclear test, which was followed last month by the launch of a rocket that put a satellite into orbit but which is seen as a violation of U.N. resolutions because it contains dual-use technology that could also be applied to long-range ballistic missiles.
Its development of smaller nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that could be used to deliver them to targets overseas has long been a matter of concern and could potentially shake up the security balance in Asia.
If the North succeeds in developing a credible warhead and missile, it would most deeply impact the United States, South Korea and Japan, but Russia and China, which are friendlier to the North, have strongly denounced its nuclear program.
__
Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul and Eric Talmadge in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.