The US Central Intelligence Agency said Wednesday it had formed a special unit dedicated to assessing North Korea’s nuclear weapons threat. The CIA created…
The US Central Intelligence Agency said Wednesday it had formed a special unit dedicated to assessing North Korea’s nuclear weapons threat.
The CIA created its first single country-focused mission center, pulling together resources from a range of units to collect and analyze information on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missile technology that could extend its military threat across the Pacific.
The move comes as North Korea appears poised to undertake its sixth nuclear test, a move that would exacerbate jitters across East Asia.
The US has not ruled out a military strike to prevent Pyongyang from advancing its nuclear capabilities.
« Just as the threats facing our nation are dynamic, so too must the CIA continue to evolve to address them, » CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said.
In 2015, the CIA created 10 mission centers in a modernization effort to break down the « stove-piping » of its different operations.
The units bring together people from different sides of the agency — analysis, operations, cyber and others — who previously may have not cooperated closely into six regional and four subject-focused groupings.
« Creating the Korea Mission Center allows us to more purposefully integrate and direct CIA efforts against the serious threats to the United States and its allies emanating from North Korea, » said CIA Director Mike Pompeo in a statement.
