Anchor: North Korean state media has reported leader Kim Jong-un as declaring his regime was successful in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to be placed on ballistic missiles. North Korea also issued photos of what it claimed to be a small enough nuclear warhead. 
Our Bae Joo-yon says it is unclear if the claim is true.

Report: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has claimed his country succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads. 

The North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station(KCBS) and other state media on Wednesday reported on Kim's meeting with North Korean scientists and engineers.

During the meeting, Kim claimed that nuclear warheads have been "standardized" to be placed on missiles.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, also carried photos of Kim standing around a silver golf ball-shaped object measuring around half-a-meter in diameter. 

In the photos, he was standing in front of what appeared to be a KN-08 long-range missile with his officials and scientists.

Kim was cited by state media as saying that the warhead was designed to enable "an instantaneous thermonuclear reaction" using the North's own style of mixed explosives and called the new weapon a "true nuclear deterrent." 

He also commended the nuclear scientists and engineers for what he called the "tremendous" feat achieved in defense research.

The reports from North Korea came in the wake of the Pentagon's disparaging remarks about the regime's nuclear capabilities.

An official of the U.S. Department of Defense said last week that Washington has not changed its assessment of the North’s nuclear capability, saying Pyongyang never demonstrated the ability to mount a warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM).

South Korean military authorities have again downplayed the claims from the North. Referring to photos showing Kim smoking at the scene, a military official said that the round object only appears to be a replica of a warhead.

While South Korean and U.S. military authorities acknowledged North Korea has made technological advancements in its nuclear weapons program, they dismissed Pyongyang's capability to one that can mount a miniaturized nuclear warhead on top of a missile.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.