Kim, the third-generation leader of North Korea, made the claim while visiting the site of a former munitions factory in central Pyongyang.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly claimed his scientists have developed a hydrogen bomb.
North Korea’s main ally China said it had noted the reports of Kim’s H-bomb claim, but offered no opinion as to its credibility.
Photos from Korean news agency showed Kim Jong Un inspecting rifles inside a building, and speaking outside the building, his aides with notebooks at the ready to take down his every word.
The report came just a day before South and North Korea are scheduled to hold a vice-ministerial talk in the border city of Kaesong today to discuss a number of inter-Korean issues.
The North Koreans have demonstrated on several occasions now via testing that they have the ability to construct a nuclear weapon, of course, and current estimates suggest that the nation’s current arsenal is somewhere below thirty actual warheads of varying yields.
North Korea has hinted before at the possession of “stronger, more powerful” weapons, but Kim’s remarks were believed to be the first direct reference to an H-bomb.
The country has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006, but none more recently than 2013.
This time, they’re claiming that they’ve developed a hydrogen bomb, a thermonuclear weapon that would theoretically make them a legitimate nuclear power.
North Korea’s state news agency, Korean Central News Agency, said the trip was a “friendship visit”. He said that North Korea has to continue with actively developing its military industry.
Meanwhile, experts noted that this marked the first time that Kim publicly mentioned the North’s development of H-bomb.
“The situation on the Korean peninsula is very delicate, complex and fragile”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Huan Chunying told reporters.
“We hope that all sides can do more to maintain peace and stability there”, Hua added.
North Korea may be close to completing an upgrade of its rocket launch site that would enable it to launch larger rockets. “So far, we have not noticed any unusual movements or activities”, the spokesperson stated.
North Korea is still technically at war with South Korea. Repeatedly following it the North has been threatening of destroying the South. But Zhang Liangui, a North Korea expert who once studied in the country, said he strongly doubts it.
This makes it “more likely that they will conduct a test in the coming year”, he said. ‘Their goal could be to pressure the global community.
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In April 2014, USA intelligence officials told NBC News they believed the North had between a dozen and “a few dozen” missile-deliverable weapons.
