North Korea could be developing nuclear warhead, Seoul says

Oct 8, 2008, 10:11 GMT

Seoul - North Korea is poised to develop a light-weight nuclear warhead for its missiles, South Korean's military chief told parliament, media in Seoul reported Wednesday.

General Kim Tae Young, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told a parliamentary committee that it was, however, not clear whether the communist state actually possesses warheads or is only at the beginning of developing them, the national Yonhap news agency said.

North Korea is believed to have produced about 40 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make six or seven nuclear bombs. But again it is not certain if Pyongyang has already used its plutonium stockpile to produce nuclear weapons, Kim was quoted as saying.

Kims said that owing to experiments observed in the North, it was safe to assume that the country possesses bomb-building technology and also conduced high-explosives testing.

US intelligence services said five years ago they believed North Korea had started to develop nuclear warheads. Experts to date doubted whether the country was able to make warheads light enough to fix on a missile.

Two years ago North Korea conduced its first subterranean nuclear test, a move which caused world-wide condemnation.