Atmospheric Nuclear Test Threat Should be Taken Literally: N Korea

Pyongyang may consider detonating a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean amid rising tensions with the US.

The North Korean foreign minister's warning of a possible atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean should be taken literally, a senior North Korean official told CNN in an interview aired on Wednesday.

"The foreign minister is very well aware of the intentions of our supreme leader, so I think you should take his words literally," Ri Yong Pil, a senior diplomat in North Korea's Foreign Ministry, told CNN during the interview.

North Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho said in September that Pyongyang may consider conducting "the most powerful detonation" of a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean amid rising tensions with the United States.

(Published in an arrangement with Reuters.)

(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT to find #PollutionKaSolution. Send in your suggestions to [e-mail] or WhatsApp @ [phone])