North Korea hasn't tested any nuclear bombs or long-range missiles this year,... a testament to the improved ties between the two Koreas as well as between the North and the U.S.
However,... experts warn the lack of tests doesn't mean that weapons development isn't going on behind the scenes.
Lee Seung-jae has more.
After its nuclear test in September 2017,... and its last missile launch a month later,... North Korea stopped all weapons tests in 2018.
Thanks to warmer ties between the two Koreas,... and even President Trump going from calling Kim Jong-un 'little rocket man' to saying how he 'fell in love' with Kim,... it looks as though the Korean Peninsula is on the path to peace.
However, according to a report by NBC News,.... experts are pointing out that while the big displays of aggression may have ceased,... "other more subtle parts of North Korea's weapons program continue apace".
A research fellow at a London-based think tank told NBC News that Kim Jong-un has not changed his policy,... but has moved from research and development to mass production.
According to the latest analysis of satellite images,... the North is still producing fissile material and building missile bases around the country.
To many,.. this comes as no surprise,... as the transition from testing to production was something the North Korean leader told the world he would do during his New Year's Day address.
Kim claimed his scientists and engineers had completed all their trials,... and they should now mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.
At the current rate of production,... a Washington-based think tank projects the North could have around 100 nuclear warheads by 2020,... almost half the size of Britain's stockpile.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.