A U.S. nuclear scientist, who visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) early this month, said Wednesday that the nuclear test by Pyongyang last month was "partially successful."

Addressing a seminar, Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, said that the DPRK's nuclear test on Oct. 9 was "at least partially successful" although the country probably was "still a long way from having a missile- capable nuclear design."

The DPRK announced on Oct. 9 that it had successfully set off its first nuclear test.

After days of detection, U.S. intelligence confirmed that the DPRK did have a underground nuclear test and the size of the explosion was less than one kiloton, or the force produced by 1, 000 tons (907 metric tons) of TNT.

However, U.S. intelligence officials have voiced doubt over the claimed nuclear test as the seismic readings were shy of a typical nuclear detonation.

Source: Xinhua