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WORRYING footage has emerged of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il inspecting what appears to be an atomic bomb.

The photo of Kim Jong-un's dad looking at the device was briefly aired on a half-hour broadcast on the state propaganda channel KCNA.

 A picture caught in the background of state propaganda appears to show late leader Kim Jong-il inspecting what could be a nuclear bomb
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A picture caught in the background of state propaganda appears to show late leader Kim Jong-il inspecting what could be a nuclear bomb

If real, it would have been taken sometime between 2006-2009 when the secretive regime carried out nuclear tests.

The image has never been seen before in the West, the reports.

Due to the grainy footage and short time it is visible on the wall it is hard to say definitively if the image does show the former dictator looking at a bomb.

But it does have notable similarities to recent images of Kim Jong-un inspecting what was claimed to be the communist state's first nuclear weapon.

 The footage emerged in a news segment about the country's 8th munitions conference
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The footage emerged in a news segment about the country's 8th munitions conferenceCredit: AFP or licensors

Kim Jong-il died six years ago and there are currently no publicly available shots of him anywhere near a nuke.

It joins several other snaps on the wall, all designed to showcase the success of hermit kingdom's weapons program.

The 8th Conference of Munitions Industry opened in Pyongyang on Monday and was attended by current leader Kim Jong-un, according to state media KCNA.

 Former leader Kim Jong-il died in 2011 having lead the secretive state for 14 years
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Former leader Kim Jong-il died in 2011 having lead the secretive state for 14 yearsCredit: AFP

Details of the conference were announced by the “pink lady” Ri Chun-hee, the country’s iconic newsreader.

KCNA said the conference aimed to give “full play to the invincible might of socialist Korea”.

The news comes as Kim Jong-un vowed to make North Korea the "strongest nuclear power in the world".

The dotty dictator was speaking to weapons bosses just hours after the US said it was ready to talk peace without pre-conditions.

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attending the 8th Conference of Munitions Industry in Pyongyang
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attending the 8th Conference of Munitions Industry in PyongyangCredit: AFP or licensors

But in a conference the despot vowed his nation would have nuke supremacy. 

He said: "We will develop new strategic weapon systems, including atomic bombs, hydrogen and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

"Our defence industry, self-defence power has been enormously strengthened at an extraordinary speed, and our republic will become the world's strongest nuclear power and a military power.

"We will fight for it."

His latest boast came after the November 29 launch of the Hwasong-15 ICBM, a missile which the North claimed could deliver a "super-large heavy warhead" anywhere on the US mainland.

 Kim Jong-un told the conference the country should aim to be a pre-eminent nuclear power
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Kim Jong-un told the conference the country should aim to be a pre-eminent nuclear powerCredit: AFP or licensors

Outside experts agree the rocket appears to have the range, but some are sceptical that Pyongyang has the technology to allow the rocket to survive re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.

Last week North Korea warned nuclear war is now inevitable after the United States staged huge drills involving hundreds of advanced warplanes.

The chilling prediction comes after two US B-1B nuke capable bombers were confirmed to be among aircraft staging large-scale aerial exercises near the hermit state.

These rocket launches clearly showed the world Kim Jong-un has moved closer towards building a nuclear arsenal that could unleash a nuclear holocaust on the US mainland.

In the latest in a series of sinister statements, the dictator’s spokesman said nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula had become a matter of when, not if.

Kim Jong-un tells munitions conference that North Korea should manufacture more diverse weapons to 'completely overpower the enemy'

Both the US and North Korean leaders have a penchant for warlike rhetoric and personal invective that risks plunging east Asia into a devastating conflict that could leave millions dead.

Trump habitually refers to Kim as "Little Rocket Man" and has threatened to utterly destroy his regime with "fire and fury." North Korea has branded Trump a mentally disturbed "dotard."

North Korea has launched an unidentified ballistic missile


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