North Korean mid-range ballistic missiles are shown in a parade marking the 65th anniversary of the Workers Party on Oct. 10, 2010. /AP-Yonhap

North Korea probably has "a rudimentary design for a nuclear warhead for a ballistic missile," a British expert claims. Joseph Bermudez, an analyst for Jane's Information Group and editor of the KPA Journal, told Radio Australia last Friday, "From what we can tell, North Korea, since it began its ballistic missile program, has desired to put a nuclear warhead on it."

The North has not tested a missile with a nuclear warhead on it, but Bermudez was at any rate skeptical whether it would work. North Korea is "on the threshold of conducting a successful space launch of a satellite," Bermudez said, "If they do develop an ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile], it would allow them to strike at the continent of the United States eventually. Would it be militarily significant? Probably not, in the sense that Western powers think so, but politically it would be a tremendous game change."

He said images provided by Digital Globe "show that there is an extensive above-ground infrastructure, but they also show entrances to underground facilities around the production facilities and the bases themselves are primarily underground facilities. I've combined this information with defectors' views and information released by intelligence agencies to come to an understanding that the underground facilities of the North Korean ballistic missile infrastructure are probably equal to what we see above ground."