SEOUL, South Korea: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for his nuclear scientists to increase production of weapons-grade material to make bombs to put on his increasing range of weapons.
The report in state media Tuesday followed a series of missile launches — seven launch events in this month alone — and rising threats to use the weapons against his enemies. North Korea's weapons tests and US-South Korea military exercises have intensified in a tit-for-tat cycle, underscoring heightened tensions in the region.
But there are differing assessments on how far North Korea has come in miniaturizing and engineering those warheads so that they could fit on a variety of new weapons it developed at rapid pace in recent years, which may possibly require further technology upgrades or nuclear tests.A biennial South Korean defense document released in February said North Korea is estimated to have 70 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, which some observers say that's enough for about 9-18 bombs.
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