North Korea has made a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a missile, a U. S. intelligence analysis indicates.
Aug. 8 (UPI) — North Korea has made a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a missile, a U. S. intelligence analysis indicates.
Unnamed U. S. officials told The Washington Post and NBC News that the Defense Intelligence Agency completed the analysis in July.
« The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles, » the assessment states, as read to The Post.
The report deepens the military threat North Korea poses. It comes after the country launched an improved ballistic missile with intercontinental range in July, Pyongyang’s second missile launch in less than a month.
Analysts believed North Korea was years from miniaturizing a nuclear warhead, a technically demanding feat. It’s unclear whether North Korea has successfully tested the new design, though last year Kim Jong Un ‘s regime declared it had.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said the news Tuesday « increases the urgency of the time sensitivity » of U. S. efforts to address North Korea’s nuclear threat.
« Assuming everything is true, including that intelligence assessment both existing and everything being accurate, there are still important unknowns, » he told CNN .
Earlier this month, the United States and the United Nations increased sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear activity.
On Tuesday, U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Southeast Asian countries to isolate North Korea both economically and diplomatically.
