A senior South Korean presidential official warned Wednesday that North Korea has tested a “nuclear detonation device,” implying that a nuclear test is near.

Pyongyang has been warning for weeks that it may perform a seventh nuclear test, and on Wednesday it test-fired three missiles, including the Hwasong-17, which might be its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The launch comes only days after US Vice President Joe Biden departed South Korea on Sunday.

Despite a recent Covid-19 outbreak, new satellite imagery shows that the secluded country has begun building on a long-dormant nuclear plant.

“Operational tests of a nuclear detonation device in preparation for a seventh nuclear test are now being detected,” said Kim Tae-hyo, the National Security Office’s first deputy director.

He said the tests were being conducted far from the North’s main nuclear test site, which was being constantly monitored by Seoul.

“The North Korean authorities are imminently near the final preparation stage for a nuclear test of a scale and quality they want,” Kim told reporters.

“The possibility of an imminent nuclear test in the next day or two is low, but after that, there is certainly a possibility,”  he continued.

The presidential administration provided no more information about the explosive device.

Kim’s remarks came only hours after Pyongyang launched three ballistic missiles, including at least one intercontinental ballistic missile, according to Seoul.

He stated that “it was judged that the first launch was of the new ICBM, the Hwasong-17,” which North Korea had previously failed to test-fire.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently increased his military modernization programme, with the nuclear-armed country conducting roughly 20 sanctions-breaking missile tests this year.

Analysts have cautioned Kim that he may accelerate nuclear testing preparations in order to distract North Koreans from the devastating coronavirus epidemic.

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