North Korea is set to hold a nuclear test at any time upon an order of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday citing a high-ranking military source.
“North Korea is currently prepared to conduct a nuclear test at any time in case Chairman Kim Jong-un decides to do so,” the source told Yonhap on conditions of anonymity.
According to the agency, the source added that Seoul and Washington were in discussions of various countermeasures, including within the framework of the UN Security Council.
On June 6, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi stated that North Korea could be getting ready to conduct a nuclear test at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
Grossi said in his statement at that time that “at the Nuclear Test Site at Punggye-ri we have observed indications that one of the adits has been reopened, possibly in preparation for a nuclear test.”
North Korea has already conducted six nuclear tests, with the last one on September 2017.
North Korea’s recent missile test launches
On September 28, 2021 and on January 11, 2022, North Korea launched hypersonic missiles and on March 24, 2022, it launched the Hwasong-17 intercontinental missile. According to experts, these launches show that North Korea has managed to significantly enhance its missile systems.
Meanwhile, some experts believe that the statements by the North Korean authorities on successful tests of hypersonic weapons are a political move, noting that not all objects that fly at a speed beyond Mach 5 can be called hypersonic.
