N Korea 'close to long-range missile test'

Kim Jong-un has given a televised address to mark the start of 2017 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the country is close to testing long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The intercontinental ballistic missiles were in their "last stage" of development, Mr Kim claimed during his New Year's message. Pyongyang has conducted two nuclear tests in the past year, including its biggest one to date.
This raised fears that North Korea has made significant nuclear advances. But it has never successfully test-fired such a missile. Reuters reported a senior US military official as saying that although North Korea appears able to put a miniaturised nuclear warhead on a missile, the missile re-entry technology necessary for longer range strikes is still a serious obstacle to its weapons development. How advanced is North Korea's nuclear programme? Mr Kim, who took control of the secretive state following his father's death in 2011, said in a televised speech: "Research and development of cutting edge arms equipment is actively progressing and ICBM (inter-continental ballistic missile) rocket test launch preparation is in its last stage." He said the country was now a "military power of the East that cannot be touched by even the strongest enemy". UN resolutions call for an end to the country's nuclear and missile tests.