'South Korea certain North has nuclear bombs'

Seoul, Aug 25: South Korea is certain North Korea has a nuclear weapon and Seoul's best estimate is that Pyongyang has produced one or two bombs, Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said today.

Yoon also told a parliamentary hearing there was not enough evidence at present to conclude the North is about to conduct its first nuclear weapons test.

''It is estimated that the North has one or two,'' Yoon told a parliamentary hearing when asked about the North's nuclear arsenal. When asked if the South has no doubt about the North's possession of a nuclear weapon, Yoon said: ''That's correct.'' North Korea declared in February 2005 it possessed nuclear weapons. US and Japanese news reports have said the North might be preparing to conduct an underground nuclear test.

In July, the communist state defied international warnings and test-fired seven missiles, prompting condemnation by the UN Security Council.

Yoon said there were activities at a North Korean nuclear site as have been described in news reports, but they did not yet amount to conclusive evidence of an imminent test.

''More analysis of data is needed to talk about the possibility (of a test),'' Yoon said.

North Korea has been working for years to build a nuclear weapon, but proliferation experts could not say if North Korea had built an atomic bomb.

REUTERS