Analysis Who’s laughing now? After nuclear warhead report, US finally realises Kim Jong-un is no joke

Commentators laughed last year when a photograph emerged of Kim Jong-un standing next to an orb, which a North Korean newspaper stated was a miniaturised nuclear weapon. “That’s a weird looking disco ball,” joked one intelligence contractor on Twitter.

Not many are laughing any more.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that a US intelligence assessment concluded North Korea has indeed successfully produced a miniaturised nuclear warhead, a disclosure that rapidly intensified an already tense stand-off with the rogue nation. Soon after the report, President Donald Trump warned Kim against making further threats, saying North Korea “will be met with the fire and the fury like the world has never seen”. North Korea said it was considering a missile strike on the US territory of Guam.

Whether Kim truly possesses the ability to miniaturise a nuclear warhead – and successfully launch it on an intercontinental ballistic missile – is unknown and remains hotly debated. Yet there is no doubt now that Kim has scored one major achievement: he is finally being taken seriously by the foreign policy establishment and intelligence agencies, evidenced by the latest assessment on his nuclear capabilities.

Kim came to power in 2011, and was immediately mocked for his funny haircut and pudgy appearance. Some Korea hands questioned if, at the age of 27, he could maintain his hold on power, speculating he would be dominated or pushed out by senior officials in the military.