A new report has revealed the shocking scale of devastation Pyongyang could wreak on its nearest neighbours, with apocalyptic levels of destruction to be expected if a nuclear strike is launched.
The Seoul metropolitan region in South Korea has a population of 24.1 million while Tokyo in Japan is home to 37.9 million people.
It is thought huge swathes of their populations could be almost instantly wiped out in the blast, with millions more injured.
Analysis by think tank 38 North assessed potential scenarios that could play out if war-mongering dictator Kim Jong-un decided to act on his threats of destruction.
The website calculated its estimates based on the assumption Kim has already amassed 25 nukes with a destructive power of 15 kilotons, the same as the Hiroshima bomb dropped by the United States at the end of the Second World War.
But despot Kim’s test of a hydrogen bomb in September had an estimated yield of at least 108 kilotons – with some estimates putting it as high as 250.
And 38 North warned if just a few of these smaller bombs made it through defences to detonate over Seoul or Tokyo, the potential devastation would be catastrophic.
Report author Michael Zagurek Junior said: “The population densities for both Seoul and Tokyo are far higher today than they were during the 1940s and 1950s.
“Multiple nuclear weapon detonations on both Seoul and Tokyo based on the current North Korea yield estimates could result in anywhere from 400,000 to 2 million deaths.
“With possible thermonuclear yields with the same number of weapons, the number of deaths could range between 1.3 and 3.8 million.”
This would inevitably lead to millions of people dying in just minutes of the initial blast.
And millions more could face an agonising death over months or even years if hit by the nuclear fallout.
Mr Zagreb also warned the sabre-rattling rhetoric from the US could make an attack from North Korea more likely.
He said: “The US carrying out any military option raises a significant risk of military escalation by the North, including the use of nuclear weapons against South Korea and Japan.
“If the ‘unthinkable’ happened, nuclear detonations over Seoul and Tokyo with North Korea’s current estimated weapon yields could result in as many as 2.1 million fatalities and 7.7 million injuries.”
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running high as the hermit state shows no sign of slowing in its pursuit of more powerful nukes, as well as the long-range missiles needed to deliver them to their targets.
Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera warned next week’s anniversary of the ruling North Korea Workers Party could be marked with another missile launch.
He said: “I understand it is an important anniversary for North Korea. We would like to maintain a sense of urgency.”
The report comes as a Russian lawmaker claimed North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile that it believes can reach the West Coast of America.
Anton Morozov, a member of the Russian Duma’s international affairs committee, and two other Russian lawmakers visited Pyongyang on October 2 to 6, RIA reported.
Mr Morozov said: “They are preparing for new tests of a long-range missile. They even gave us mathematical calculations that they believe prove that their missile can hit the west coast of the United States.
“As far as we understand, they intend to launch one more long-range missile in the near future. And in general, their mood is rather belligerent.”