Nuvlear security

Defector: N Korea Planning More Nuke Tests, Wants Recognition as Nuclear Power

North Korea will want to schedule another nuclear test during South Korea’s presidential race, a high-ranking defector says – and then to engage in international talks.

Thae Yong-ho, formerly the deputy ambassador at North Korean's embassy in London, told a South Korean Parliamentary intelligence committee meeting December 23 that Pyongyang has sent documents to its overseas missions reporting that the country wants to conduct its sixth and seventh nuclear tests next year, KBS reports.

"In particular, it calls for preparations, as North Korea would seek to conduct a nuclear test around the presidential election," Thae said, according to lawmakers, the Korea Times reported.

Thae defected to South Korea in July, the most senior North Korean diplomat ever to do so. This was his first public appearance.