NUCLEAR WARNING: North Korea planing another nuke test on Donald Trump’s INAUGURATION

The secretive state has launched 20 missiles this year alone as it aims to develop a long-range weapon, capable of hitting the US mainland.

In a military forum held in Seoul on Wednesday, Lee Su-seok, director of the Center for Unification Strategy at the state-run Institute for National Security Strategy, said: "North Korea may seek negotiations with the U.S. when it completes nuclear tests and reaches the stage of deploying a long-range nuclear-tipped missile.

"In early 2017, it is highly likely that Pyongyang will detonate another nuclear device and launch a long-range ballistic missile to reiterate its status as a nuclear power."

With President-elect Trump set to be inaugurated on January 20 next year, these latest claims have sparked fears the ceremony could become a target.

Trump is not believed to consider the communist state a high priority at the moment, but this recent speculation about the country's nuclear capabilities could spark increased efforts for dialogue and negotiations between the two countries.

The hermit state’s leader Kim Jong-un is reportedly keen to



speak to Trump, after years of declining relations with Barack Obama's administration.

During the military forum, Lee Su-seok also expressed fears about the declining relations between North and South Korea.

He said: “Inter-Korean relations will remain frosty and strained until the first half of 2017 due to the North's continued military provocations.

"Any dialogue with North Korea, if any, will be possible some time after Trump takes office in January."

The director said: "The Kim Jong-un regime will continue its verbal and military threats in efforts to urge the nearly paralysed Seoul government to change the current strict policies toward Pyongyang".

South Korea's scandal-plagued president Park Geun-hye has recently been caught up in a corruption case involving her longtime confidant, Choi Soon-sill, who has been accused of using high-ranking connections to wield inappropriate influence inside the government.

As a result, Kim Jong-un's loyal followers are expected to exploit the unrest in South Korea and create internal conflicts within the country.