By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea is capable of producing up to 21 nuclear weapons, according to a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a draft resolution on North Korea’s nuclear program released Thursday, stated that Pyongyang has an estimated stockpile of nuclear materials that can be converted into 13 to 21 nuclear weapons.
Previously, the committee presumed that North Korea could make 10 to 16 nuclear weapons.
The committee also assessed that the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system on the Korean Peninsula will improve missile defense capabilities in South Korea against potential North Korean missile attacks.
It reaffirmed the importance of the security alliance of the U.S., South Korea and Japan to counter North Korea’s military threats and nuclear proliferation, calling for “expansion of information, intelligence sharing and sustained diplomatic cooperation” among the three allies.
The resolution H. Res. 634, submitted by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), has been put to a vote during a general meeting, diplomatic sources said. If the House adopts the resolution, it will result in stronger sanctions against North Korea, they said.
The resolution also underscored a trilateral alliance to track Pyongyang’s human rights violations.
North Korea is believed to be capable of mounting a small nuclear warhead on short- and medium-range missiles that could strike South Korea and Japan.
It also successfully test-fired a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile on June 22, making progress in its missile technology to attack U.S. military bases in Guam.
The U.S. has been ratcheting up its punitive measures on the Kim Jong-un regime in response.
On June 1, the Department of the Treasury designated North Korea a “primary money laundering concern.”
The action was aimed at choking off Pyongyang’s remaining access to the global financial system for its continued nuclear weapons development despite the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions in March.
The Treasury Department also blacklisted Kim with 14 other North Korean officials and eight entities on July 6 for their involvement in human rights abuses. It was the first time that a leader of North Korea has been personally sanctioned by the U.S.