SEOUL: North Korea is in the “final stages” of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, leader Kim Jong-Un said Sunday, adding the country had significantly bolstered its nuclear deterrent in 2016.
“We are in the final stages of test-launching the intercontinental ballistic missile,” Kim said in a 30-minute televised New Year’s speech, pointing to a string of nuclear and missile tests last year.
Pyongyang had “soared as a nuclear power”, he said, adding it was now a “military power of the East that cannot be touched by even the strongest enemy”.
The country carried out two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches last year along in pursuit of its oft-stated goal — developing a weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead.
“We have seen marvellous feats for bolstering our military power, including the fact that our preparations for test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile are in the final stages,” Kim added.
Analysts are divided over how close Pyongyang is to realising its full nuclear ambitions, especially as it has never successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
But all agree it has made enormous strides in that direction since Kim took over as leader from his father Kim Jong-Il, who died in December 2011.
A senior US defence official said last month that the North has developed the capability to pair a nuclear warhead with a missile and launch it, but has not mastered bringing the weapon back from space and onto a target.
