North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead able to be used with its missiles, according to a leaked U.S. intelligence assessment.
The analysis from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated July 28, reveals that the small dictatorship is one step closer to becoming a nuclear power, the Washington Post reports.
"The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles," the assessment reads.
The speed with which North Korea has reached this critical point surprised many analysts, who expected that it would take the country years to be able to successfully miniaturize warheads. North Korea had claimed last year that it had tested miniaturized warheads, displaying a spherical device which state media said was a bomb. Many experts doubted the veracity of these claims at the time.
"What initially looked like a slow-motion Cuban missile crisis is now looking more like the Manhattan Project, just barreling along," Robert Litwak, a nonproliferation expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, told the Post. "There's a sense of urgency behind the program that is new to the Kim Jong Un era."
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was also assessed to be "increasingly confident" in his nuclear arsenal, which may explain his willingness to engage in missile tests which have drawn criticism even from China. North Korea is now thought to have up to 60 nuclear weapons in its arsenal, according to a U.S. assessment last month, although some experts suggest the number could be closer to 20 to 25.