South Korea claims Pyongyang on brink of making 'deliverable nuclear devices'

South Korea's defence ministry has claimed that North Korea has finished "miniaturizing" nuclear devices that would allow them to be fitted on the tip of a long-range missile which could then be launched to reach South Korea or even the United States.

The ministry said in a white paper that North Korea's capabilities of miniaturising nuclear weapons appeared to have reached a "significant level." It said that enough time had passed since North Korea conducted its first nuclear test for it to have acquired the technology, reported the BBC.

However, a ministry official said that there was no intelligence to support the assessment.

The official said that acquiring such technology took between two and seven years, and eight years had already passed since North Korea conducted its first nuclear test.

Pyongyang has carried out three nuclear tests with the most recent in February 2013.