Reports: U.S. Forces Japan video featuring North Korea to be amended

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. Forces Japan video that became controversial in South Korea will be corrected, according to multiple reports on Thursday.

The video, uploaded to YouTube about a month ago, claims North Korea is a declared nuclear power with 15 or more weapons of mass destruction.

The information, which is an estimate, is shown on a map of Northeast Asia that features China and Russia. Both nuclear powers have an estimated 200 and 4,000 nuclear warheads in their arsenal, respectively, according to USFJ.

The footage, which is still available for public viewing as of Thursday, will be edited with a new script, a South Korean defense ministry official said, according to local news service Money Today.

"China, Russia and North Korea will be displayed on-screen, [but] the number of their nuclear weapons will not be shown," the official said.

The video may be controversial in South Korea because it appears to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear weapons power. The footage, posted by the U.S. military, is being interpreted in some quarters as a preliminary move toward recognizing the North's nuclear status, according to Yonhap.

Washington and Seoul agreed in 2018 the two sides would work to a full and final verified denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The footage also states East Asia has been "characterized by territorial disputes extending back decades or even centuries."

Controversy over the video comes at a time when North Korean top official Kim Yong Chol is traveling to Washington for meetings with Trump administration officials.

Kim's visit to Washington has been delayed a day, South Korean television network KBS reported, and his trip is taking place as North Korean diplomat Choi Sun Hee leaves for Sweden.

Choi could meet with U.S. special envoy Stephen Biegun, according to the report.