"North Korea is on the verge of being able to scale up its nuclear weapons program to the level of the other major players, so its critical to head this off," David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, who led the analysis, said as quoted by the news outlet.
Pyongyang's alleged intention to deploy what the analyst described as a large nuclear arsenal, could be a threat not only to North Korea's historic rival the United States, but also to China, Albright added.
North Korea has four facilities either currently producing nuclear weapons or preparing to do so, the report stated. The country already has 30 to 34 kilograms (66 to 75 pounds) of weapons-grade plutonium, enough for nine nuclear weapons, and could have 67 warheads in five years, according to the analysis.
"You have this growing arsenal in the hands of people who are always on edge, and it creates an environment that is unstable and could lead to a very large arms race in the region," Albright suggested.
North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003. The country declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and has conducted several nuclear weapon tests since then. Pyongyang's nuclear program has triggered mass protests from the international community, including demands for the nation to return to talks on the reduction of its nuclear activities.
