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Reports claim Kim could launch a missile to mark Trump's inauguration
Despot Kim Jong-un boasted that his Communist country was close to launching an upgraded prototype ICBM in his New Year’s speech – and military experts believe his threats might be legitimate.
It comes on the same day that news has emerged North Korea could again be firing up its plutonium production reactor at the Yongbyon Nuclear Facility, Washington-based North Korea watchdog 38 North claimed.
South Korean media have reported that the war-crazed leader could be preparing to test launch weapons tomorrow – the same day that Donald Trump is set to be sworn in as the 45th US President.
Intelligence agencies from South Korea claim they have evidence that missile parts – believed to be the lower-half of an ICBM – are being transported in preparations for an imminent test launch.
A source told South Korean media: "It was different from a conventional Musudan missile in its length and shape.
"It is possible they were moving it somewhere for assembly.”
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Trump is set to be inaugurated in Washington DC later today
A spokesman for South Korea’s joint chief of staff admitted his nation was monitoring North Korea’s ICBM development but that the missile report could not be officially confirmed.
The hermit nation has previously paraded fake KN-08 missiles in a desperate bid to boast about its military might.
The new missiles spotted are believed to be an upgraded version, called the KN-14.
It is believed the recently spotted new road-mobile ICBM could be kept hidden or moving until launched – making tracking the missile extremely difficult.
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Trump has arrived in Washington ahead of his inauguration
The suspected rocket is shorter than than the KN-08 missile, and is made up of two different parts, but still remains a whopping 49 feet long.
Joshua Pollack, editor of a nuclear disarmament magazine, said: “As we saw in 2016, there's certainly a variety of active missile programmes underway in North Korea.
"It's also possible that they are simply conducting field exercises with no plans to launch, or the option to launch if decided.”
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