Sep 11 (NHK) - Japan's defense minister says North Korea has sufficient capabilities to be recognized as a nuclear power.
During an appearance on an NHK TV program on Sunday, Itsunori Onodera said the North's 6th nuclear test on September 3rd may have been of a hydrogen bomb with an estimated explosive yield of 160 kilotons of TNT. He said that would prove the country's technology is steadily improving.
He called the North's current capability a major threat, and said what it wants to acquire next is an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Onodera said that if the North's ultimate goal is to make a nuclear warhead that can reach the mainland United States, its next step could be a test launch of an ICBM.
He said Japan's Self-Defense Forces have been on the alert around the clock, as the missile is likely to be launched over Japan.
