Seoul [South Korea], September 27 : North Korea is likely to conduct a nuclear test, its seventh such test, after the US presidential elections in November, according to an official of South Korea's intelligence agency, Seoul's state media reported.
As per a Yonhap news outlet report, Lee Seong Kweun, a member of the intelligence committee of South Korean parliament, the National Assembly, told reporters following a briefing by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Thursday that though the possibility of a nuclear test to be held ahead of the election cannot be ruled out, it is more likely to be afterward.
The NIS told the parliament intelligence committee that a nuclear test could be accompanied by other provocative acts such as a satellite launch and the test-firing of missiles, according to Lee and Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The South Korea's intelligence agency NIS also told lawmakers that Pyongyang possesses around 70 kilograms of plutonium and a significant amount of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is sufficient to build a two-digit number of nuclear weapons, Yonhap said.
The South Korean media outlet cited Lee as stating that "externally, it can be interpreted as a move conscious of the US ahead of its presidential election, while internally it appears to be an attempt to boost confidence among the population amid the extremely dire economic situation."
Earlier this month, North Korean media released photographs of leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a uranium enrichment facility as well as photographs of centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs.
North Korea's nuclear programme is banned under multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. The country, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, has never publicly disclosed details of its uranium enrichment facility.
According to NIS, as per the Yonhap report, the facility is likely to be the Kangson nuclear complex near Pyongyang.
On September 18, North Korea fired unidentified ballistic missile eastward while earlier on September 12, Pyongyang test-fired a new 600mm multiple rocket launcher.
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