North Korea to stick two fingers up to the West with new nuclear warhead launch before ‘end of year’
South Korean government has learned 'noisy neigbours' plan to see 2016 out with a bang
BOMB-crazy Kim Jong-un is to defy the West and launch another massive nuclear warhead before the end of the year, it's been revealed.
Rogue state North Korea was condemned by leaders across the globe earlier this month when it carried out a weapons test involving a bomb TWICE the size of the one which flattened Hiroshima.
Now South Korea's Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo has revealed its noisy neighbours plan to see 2016 out with a real bang.
"Given signs for preparations for a nuclear test, North Korea is likely to make another provocation this year," the minister revealed.
Experts said that Pyongyang may launch a long-range rocket or conduct a nuclear test around anytime between now and the New Year reports the .
After Kim detonated a nuclear bomb at the beginning of September his military scientists bragged they could produce more warheads “any time we desire”.
The explosion was the fifth and biggest test carried out since dictator Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011.
Today's new comes as the US revealed it is to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) system in South Korea "as soon as possible" amid heightened threats from North Korea's nuclear programme.
Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told a congressional hearing that the Thaad deployment was a "done deal" and that the timing of the deployment was a Pentagon matter.
He added considering "the accelerating pace of North Korea's missile tests, we intend to deploy on an accelerated basis. I would say as soon as possible".
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Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to give a specific timeline for the deployment, but said it would happen "as soon as feasible".
The decision to deploy the powerful anti-missile mechanism was taken by the US and its ally in early July.
The nations had first finalised Seongju County as the location for installing the system, but following protests from the people of the area, Seoul agreed to consider alternative locations.
The countries have not announced any new location so far.
China and Russia had expressed security concerns over the US-South Korea joint mission, but the US had said that the deployment in the Korean peninsula was solely targeted at North Korea and no other third party will be affected.
North Korea's latest nuclear test followed by a ballistic missile test has irked the US and the United Nations, who are now considering options to stop North Korea from pursuing the banned nuclear programme.
Russel told the congressional hearing that Washington was in talks with international partners, including the European Union, on tighter sanctions for the North and on cutting access to international banking services.
What is THAAD and how does it work?
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) is designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles, just the type of weapons North Korea claims it has.
Each THAAD system is comprised of five major components: interceptors, launchers, a radar, a fire control unit and support equipment.
The radar first detects an incoming missile. Those manning the system identify the threat.
Then, a launcher mounted to a truck fires a projectile at the ballistic missile in the hopes of destroying it using kinetic energy - basically just its sheer speed.
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