White House intelligence chief Dan Coats said it was possible but admitted it was ‘complicated’
US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said on Thursday it was technically possible for North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons programme within a year, but added that it was not likely to happen.
Asked at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado about White House national security adviser John Bolton’s statement that North Korea could denuclearise in a year, Coats said: “It’s technically possible but probably not going to happen.”
“It’s a much more complicated process than most people think,” Coats told the forum. He added that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had “clearly said this is hard, this is going to take some time” and projected a “longer time frame”.
There has been no sign of concrete action towards denuclearisation by Pyongyang since US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a summit in Singapore on June 12. Pompeo visited Pyongyang in early July and the two sides struggled to make headway on the denuclearisation issue.
Trump on Tuesday told reporters there was “no rush” and “no time limit” on denuclearisation negotiations with North Korea.
