Kim Jong Un, on Wednesday, flexed his nuclear arsenal as North Korea unveiled new nuclear warheads amid the U.S. aircraft carrier's planned arrival in South Korea for military drills.
What Happened: North Korea unveiled smaller nuclear warheads and vowed to produce more weapons-grade nuclear material to "exponentially" expand its arsenal, the state media reported.
North Korea’s state news agency KCNA released photos of the warheads, dubbed Hwasan-31s, and said Kim visited the Nuclear Weapons Institute. The report added that during the visit, Kim inspected new tactical nuclear weapons and technology for mounting warheads on ballistic missiles. He also reportedly took stock of nuclear counterattack operation plans.
Experts warned that North Korea's compact nuclear warheads are "worrisome" as they are powerful enough to mount on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the U.S..
“It has something more powerful in a smaller space. That’s worrisome,” Kune Y. Suh, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, told Reuters.
This came after Kim, on Tuesday, urged his military to increase the production of nuclear arms while emphasizing the importance of being prepared to use these weapons whenever necessary against the “enemy.”
Kim’s instruction to ramp up the production of weapons-grade materials is “far-sighted” and aimed at "exponentially" expanding Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, the state media said.
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