Foreign journalists visiting North Korea gather in Pyongyang for what is rumored to be “a big and important event.” Meanwhile, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that Kim Jong-Un may already be capable of firing a missile loaded with sarin nerve gas toward Japan. It’s rumored that the “important event” being held in Pyongyang may be North Korea’s sixth official nuke test and another step towards the countries nuclear capability expansion.
In his speech, Abe warned that North Korea could already possess sarin gas-tipped missiles, and it’s only a matter of time until they use them, CNN reports:
“The security situation around our country is getting increasingly severe,” Abe said “We have just talked about Syria. There is a possibility that North Korea already has a capability to put sarin on warheads to strike the ground,” he said.
Just over a month ago, North Korea’s military fired off at least three “practice missiles” that landed just a few hundred miles off the Japanese coast, prompting Abe to place his country on its highest level of alert. At the time, the Washington Post reported that Kim Jong-Un considered the missiles a test-run for real future strikes on U.S. military bases in Japan. Now, the U.S. has found satellite images that show a high level of activity around the suspected test site. They’ve also gathered reports that the nuclear test site is “primed and ready” for a new round.
These nuclear tests would coincide with North Korea’s “Day of the Sun” holiday. The event celebrates what would have been the 105th birthday of state founder Kim Il-sung. In 2012, North Korea celebrated the occasion with a satellite atop a long-range rocket. In 2016, a fireworks display also included an intermediate-range missile firing.
(Via CNN and The Telegraph)