The director made the comments in an interview with the news agency on the country’s achievement in space development on the occasion of the 70th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, which falls on October. 10, according to the report.

Such a move would nearly certainly invite fresh worldwide sanctions on the already isolated North and trigger a surge in military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.

The announcement that North Korea’s unstable and paranoid leader has his hands on the nuclear button will come as a significant concern to western leaders.

Just as inter-Korean relations have begun to warm up again, North Korea is issuing threats of further provocations.

Yongbyon’s reactor was ended in 2007 but later on Pyongyang promised to restart efforts in 2013 by continuing its third nuclear test and high regional tensions. “It’s North Korea’s traditional playbook: First start a crisis with words before actually making action”.

North Korea says it will use its “steadily improved” nuclear program against the United States at “any time”, calling the program a response to a “reckless hostile policy” from the U.S.

DPRK is an acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The director of North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration was quoted by KCNA as saying the agency was at a “final phase” of developing a new earth observation satellite.

In July, North Korea dismissed the possibility of a nuclear disarmament deal, arguing its nuclear weapons are its main deterrence against USA aggression. “Experts say that [weaponized] ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology”, the Daily Mail reports.

“Any satellite launch using ballistic missile technology would be a clear violation of those resolutions”, he said.

In 2012, the rogue regime reportedly successfully launched a satellite into space after multiple failed attempts.

“If a launch is in the works and past practice is any guide, we would soon expect to see increased activity throughout the Sohae launch site”.

The declaration by North Korea’s state media agency claimed in that the country’s main nuclear facility at Yongbyon, within the country’s northwest, was “in full operation”.

A ballistic missile test would trigger fresh sanctions against North Korea, at a time when it is dealing with widespread starvation. These launches have been banned by the United Nations Security Council, but North Korea remains defiant.