South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung on Friday said Seoul has no doubt that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons.

The defense chief told the National Assembly Defense Committee that the government believes North Korea has one or two nuclear bombs.

The remarks followed a question by an opposition member of the committee whether the communist state has developed or manufactured nuclear weapons.

Yoon said the government has no doubt that Pyongyang possesses an atomic bomb.

Washington has long believed Pyongyang may have manufactured six to 12 atomic bombs, but Seoul has been reluctant to call the North a nuclear state.

North Korea announced it possessed nuclear weapons in a Foreign Ministry statement released in February last year. However, South Korean officials, including former Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, claimed the North cannot be called a nuclear power until it is "scientifically proven."

The defense minister's remarks are expected to raise concerns here that Pyongyang may be trying to scientifically prove its possession of nuclear arms through an underground test of an atomic bomb.