SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's defense ministry said Tuesday that North Korea appeared to have achieved a "significant" level of technology to miniaturize a nuclear device to be fitted on the tip of a missile.
The ministry made the warning in a white paper due to be released later Tuesday, although defense officials said the nuclear-armed North has yet to demonstrate its miniaturization capacity.
"North Korea's capabilities of miniaturizing nuclear weapons appear to have reached a significant level," the ministry said in a statement.
Pyongyang has conducted three nuclear tests, most recently in February 2013.
The defense ministry said the North had probably secured some 40 kilos (88 pounds) of weapons-grade plutonium by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods, and that it is working on a highly enriched uranium program.
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