SEOUL: North Korea has yet to develop a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a missile, a senior US official said yesterday, contradicting a recent US military intelligence report.
The North claimed its third atomic test staged in February involved a “miniaturised and lighter” warhead, prompting speculation that it had acquired the crucial technology to fit nuclear devices to a missile delivery system.
The latest test -- the North’s most powerful to date -- came only two months after it successfully launched a long-range rocket in what was widely viewed as a ballistic missile test.
“I don’t believe they have the capability to miniaturise the nuclear warhead, put it on top of the missile, work the launch and reentry problem, and target,” said the senior US official who declined to be identified. “I don’t think they have been able to put the whole piece together,” he told a press briefing for foreign media in Seoul.
His comments countered a report by the US military’s Defence Intelligence Agency which said the North may have succeeded in miniaturising its warheads. AFP
