North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given orders for his country to conduct tests of a nuclear warhead and several types of ballistic rockets that can carry nuclear warheads in a “short time,” the state-run KCNA news agency reported.
The announcement comes amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Thursday.
On Saturday, the United States and South Korea began an eight-week series of annual joint military exercises billed as the largest ever.
North Korea said last week that it would make a “pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike” in response to the exercises.
