(Bloomberg) -- North Korea is looking at conducting a nuclear test to coincide with the November presidential election in the US, Yonhap News reported, citing comments the South’s spy agency made to lawmakers.
Officials from the National Intelligence Service made the assessment in a meeting with a parliamentary committee Thursday, adding North Korea has amassed enough fissile material for nuclear weapons that run into the double digits. Yonhap cited lawmakers from the intelligence subcommittee telling reporters after the closed-door session.
A test would be North Korea’s seventh and the fifth under leader Kim Jong Un. His regime last tested a nuclear device in September 2017, which was its most powerful atomic bomb by far with an estimated yield of between 120-250 kilotons.
Detonating a nuclear device would send a strong signal that no matter who wins the US presidential race, North Korea will press ahead with its atomic ambitions as it develops weapons that have the ability to strike America and its allies.
Pyongyang has a habit of timing its provocations to coincide with major political events to raise its profile. Kim held three in-person summits with now Republican candidate Donald Trump when he was president. Trump heralded his ties to Kim when he spoke to the Republican National Convention in July, saying: “I think he misses me, if you want to know the truth.”
But Kim’s state media rebuffed the comments, saying “we do not care” and warned its nuclear arsenal stands ready for any US leader. A commentary on the official Korean Central News Agency said personal relations and diplomacy should be kept separate, adding it does not see the US dropping a hostile policy toward Pyongyang regardless of who is in the White House.
Kim has long said he has no plans to relinquish his nuclear arsenal. His regime sent a message to Washington about its advancements by releasing photos this months of a facility to enrich uranium for atomic bombs, showing a clandestine plant that is part of a program which has been a point of friction with the US for more than 20 years.
South Korea’s then defense minister Shin Wonsik said in an interview with Bloomberg in July that North Korea had completed preparations for a nuclear test and would go ahead with one when a political decision was made.
North Korea is estimated to have about 80 to 90 warheads, the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said in a paper released in January 2023, adding Kim was looking to have between 100 to 300 over the long term.
Last year, North Korea released photos of Kim inspecting the state’s biggest display of warheads since he took power about a dozen years ago, showing Pyongyang has made progress in miniaturizing the weapons. This could lead to testing to verify the capabilities of its newest bomb that’s designed to be used on a variety of delivery systems, the Open Nuclear Network said in a June 2023 report.
Kim is unlikely to face new global sanctions to punish him for the test as he has drawn closer to Russia, which can use its veto power on the United Nations Security Council to prevent any new measures.
Kim has strengthened his hand by supplying munitions and ballistic missiles to President Vladimir Putin for his war on Ukraine. In return, the Russian president has been suspected of sending aid to prop up North Korea’s economy and military, increasing its threat to the region. Pyongyang and Moscow have denied the allegations.
But Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have promised a coordinated response if Pyongyang detonates an atomic device, which would also violate UN Security Council resolutions.
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