North Korea state media claimed Thursday that the nation had developed a hydrogen bomb, though some remain skeptical to the veracity of the statement.

CNN reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the claim as he toured a historic weapons industry site in the country.

According to a report from state media outlet KCNA, Kim said the country had become "a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate [a] self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation."

This announcement comes soon after a senior United Nations official strongly urged the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for "gross human rights violations."

Many experts seemed doubtful of the declaration, especially given its timing.

Jasper Kim, director of the Center for Conflict Management at Seoul's Ewha University, believes the nation is looking to strengthen its bargaining potential against the UN's Security Council.

John Nilsson-Wright, head of the Asia program at Chatham House, said the claims looked like an attempt to grab international attention and that he sees little evidence of North Korea being capable of producing such a weapon.

"Since the 1980s there is some evidence to suggest a program of developing highly enriched uranium, alongside plutonium, but it's hard to see how they could have made the leap from that to evidence of a working hydrogen bomb," said Nilsson-Wright to CNN.

Researcher Lee Chun-geun of the Science and Technology Policy Institute said that it was more likely that they were trying to develop an H-bomb but hadn't yet completed the task.

The heavily militarized and reclusive state of North Korea often issues threats against declared enemies such as South Korea and U.S. The country possesses a standing army of 1.2 million active soldiers with millions more in reserve, and is speculated to have anywhere between 10 to 15 atomic weapons in its possession.

A hydrogen bomb, which produces a fusion reaction as opposed to fission reaction, triggers an explosion "orders of magnitude more powerful than atomic bombs," the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization says.