Posted on 07/21/2005 8:06:27 AM PDT by robowombat
By Anna Fifield in Seoul
Published: July 20 2005 03:00 | Last updated: July 20 2005 03:00
A North Korean parliament-arian who defected to the South says Kim Jong-il's regime has made a one-tonne nuclear bomb and is working on lighter weapons that could be fired more reliably, according to a South Korean magazine.
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The defector, who was a deputy in the Supreme People's Assembly, claimed to have visited Taiwan to tout North Korean missiles.
The report in the Monthly Chosun supports assumptions North Korea is not bluffing over its claim to be a nuclear state and is taking steps to ensure it can transport weapons. Beijing is likely to be alarmed by the claim that Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory, was approached about buying missiles.
However, some South Korean government officials are known to have doubts about the veracity of the Taiwan claim in particular and have suggested it was many years since the man was a deputy in the assembly.
A spokesman for South Korea's National Intelligence Service declined to comment on the testimony, although he said the Taiwan report was not true.
The magazine said the man, who is using the alias Kim Il-do and is believed to be in his early 70s, applied for political asylum in South Korea from a third country in May and was now being questioned by the NIS.
"North Korea has built a one-tonne nuclear bomb with 4kg of plutonium," the magazine quoted Kim Il-do as telling the NIS. "North Korean scientists have told Kim Jong-il that the nuclear weapon is functioning but they are actually sceptical about its performance."
Kim Il-do said North Korea was now trying to make miniaturised 500kg nuclear warheads because it doubted whether the one-tonne weapons would work properly.
He also reportedly told the intelligence service that Pyongyang was developing small submersible boats and stealth uniforms for soldiers that would be difficult to detect by radar, as well as "special weapons" for its 30,000-strong special forces.
The magazine said Kim Il-do served in the 11th Supreme People's Assembly, which runs from August 2003 to July 2008, and was involved with the Maritime Industry Research Institute, which develops and sells arms.
They have a 1-ton nuke. Is this yield, or weight?
I guess weight because later they talk about a 500kg bomb.
Weight, I believe. Not throw weight.
"Defector says North Korea has one-tonne nuclear bomb"...and we would like to thank Bill Clinton for his help.
1 ton? Heck that is smaller than a Davy Crockett yield!
Weight not yield. Not sure how much 4kg of plutonium will yield or even if it's enough to go boom, but it would certainly exceed 1 ton output.
Do they have the ability to accurately deliver it anywhere off the peninsula?
Best I can find is yield of something less than 20 Kilotons, small but devistating if you're anywhere near it.
I like the part about "stealth" uniforms that will hide men from radar. As if we used radar to pick up soldiers now! What century are these people living in?
I'm wonly...so wonly...
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