South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung on Friday said Seoul has no doubt that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons.
"(The government) believes North Korea has one or two nuclear bombs," the defense chief told the National Assembly Defense Committee.
The remarks followed a question by an opposition member of the committee whether the communist state has developed or manufactured nuclear weapons.
Yoon said the government has no doubt that Pyongyang possesses an atomic bomb.
Washington has long believed Pyongyang may have manufactured six to 12 atomic bombs, but Seoul has been reluctant to call the North a nuclear state.
North Korea announced it possessed nuclear weapons in a Foreign Ministry statement released in February last year, but South Korean officials, including former Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, claimed the North cannot be called a nuclear power until it is "scientifically proven."
The defense minister's remarks are expected to raise concerns here that Pyongyang may be trying to scientifically prove its possession of nuclear arms through an underground test of an atomic bomb.
Japan's Kyodo News reported Thursday that "suspicious" vehicle movements were observed near a suspected nuclear test site in the North. The report came after U.S. broadcaster ABC News reported last week that a U.S. intelligence office spotted suspicious activities at the suspected nuclear test site that suggested an underground test was imminent.
Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok had said a nuclear test was "logically possible" but that no clear evidence of an imminent nuclear test had emerged so far.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said earlier in the day that the country was closely monitoring the North while being aware of the possibility that the communist state may go ahead with a nuclear test.
Seoul, Aug. 25 (Yonhap News)
Seoul has no doubt N. Korea has nuclear bombs: defense chief |
