Although there's no question that North Korea has nuclear bombs, foreign experts call the North’s claims propaganda and suggest that the country is not yet capable of hitting the U.S. or its allies with a nuclear weapon.
FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says is Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government.
Launched almost straight up to avoid the territories of neighbors, the weapon reached a maximum altitude of about 5,770 kilometers and flew 990 kilometers , according to North Korean state media. The reported flight details suggest the missile could travel 13,000 kilometers or beyond if launched on a normal trajectory.
North Korean state media said the launch was made “suddenly” after a surprise order from leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea has so far performed six underground nuclear test explosions to manufacture warheads that it can place on missiles. Outside estimates of the number of North Korean nuclear warheads vary widely, ranging from 20-60 to up to about 115.
The North described its sixth nuclear test in 2017 as a detonation of a thermonuclear bomb built for ICBMs. It created a tremor that measured magnitude 6.3, and some studies put its estimated explosive yield at about 50 to 140 kilotons of TNT. In comparison, the pair of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II — which killed a total of more than 210,000 people — yielded explosions equivalent to about 15 and 20 kilotons of TNT, respectively.
The so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons include what North Korea calls “super-large” 600-millimeter multiple rocket launchers that it tested Monday. South Korea describes the weapon as a short-range missile system.
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