Even a Small Nuclear Test by North Korea Would Be a Big US Worry
- Kim Jong Un seeking to build arsenal of ‘tactical’ weapons
- Regime may use next atomic bomb test to prove technology
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As North Korea moves closer to its first nuclear test in five years, one of the biggest worries for the US and its allies might be a relatively small blast.
Kim Jong Un has made clear he wants to build an arsenal of “tactical” nuclear weapons, meaning lower-yield bombs that could be used on the battlefield rather than on whole cities. First it must produce miniaturized warheads to fit on the expanding array of short-ranged ballistic missiles it has designed to threaten US troops and their allies in Asia.