North Korea has enough plutonium and uranium to produce at least a double-digit number of nuclear warheads, South Korean lawmaker Lee Song-kwen said, citing the country's spy agency, Reuters reports.
In particular, the agency sees the prospect that North Korea could conduct a seventh nuclear test after the US presidential election on November 5.
Reuters recalled that in July, the Federation of American Scientists concluded in its report that North Korea had likely produced enough fissile material to create up to 90 nuclear warheads, but the country has most likely assembled about 50.
According to Lee, North Korean state media rarely report on leader Kim Jong-un's visit to a uranium enrichment facility. Therefore, he suggested that the report released earlier this month may have been intended to send a message to the US ahead of the country's presidential election.
At the same time, Lee, speaking to reporters after a briefing by South Korea's National Intelligence Service, noted that the report on the visit may also have been for domestic purposes.
"It was said that the economic situation is dire, so this may be interpreted as an act aimed at instilling confidence in the people," the South Korean lawmaker stressed.
For its part, Pyongyang said that its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles is needed "to counter threats from the US and its allies."