Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un said his country would soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the official KCNA news agency reported on March 15.
Kim made the comments as he supervised a successful simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile that measured the "thermodynamic structural stability of newly-developed heat-resisting materials," KCNA said.
"Declaring that a nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads will be conducted in a short time to further enhance the reliance of nuclear attack capability, he (Kim) instructed the relevant section to make prearrangement for them to the last detail," the agency said.
The report comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula as the Republic of Korea and US troops stage annual military exercises that Seoul has described as the largest ever. The DPRK has issued belligerent statements almost daily, after coming under new United Nations sanctions.
The United Nations Security Council imposed a new resolution to tighten sanctions against the DPRK after a nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket last month.
