North Korea 'on the cusp' of achieving full nuclear weapons capability, says CIA director 

Mike Pompeo
Mike Pompeo

The United States must prepare for North Korea taking the "final step" to developing an intercontinental nuclear strike capability, the head of the CIA has warned.

Mike Pompeo, director of the CIA, said Kim Jong-un's government appeared to be on the brink of developing a nuclear weapons that would be able to hit the United States.  

"From a US policy perspective, we ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective," Mr Pompeo said a security conference in Washington on Thursday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the launch of a Hwasong-12 missile 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the launch of a Hwasong-12 missile  Credit: KCNA/Reuters

"They are so far along in that, it's now a matter of thinking about how do you stop the final step."

    "Whether it happens on Tuesday or a month from Tuesday, we're in a time where the President has concluded that we have a global effort to ensure that [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un does not obtain that capacity," he added.

    Mr Pompeo said while US intelligence on the Norths's nuclear projects was not perfect, "when you're now talking about months, our capacity to understand that at a detailed level is in some sense irrelevant."

    Jim Jong Un and Donald Trump have exchanged increasingly bombastic threats
    Jim Jong Un and Donald Trump have exchanged increasingly bombastic threats Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP

    North Korea carried out its biggest ever nuclear test last month and has successfully tested two medium range ballistic missiles since May. 

    Its apparent rapid advance towards a credible nuclear deterrent took the international community by surprise and has led to an escalating diplomatic crisis defined by Mr Trump and Mr Kim exchanging increasingly bombastic threats. 

    President Trump has warned that Mr Kim faces "total annihilation" if he continues the nuclear program and several US officials have warned that the crisis could slide into conflict.

    Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian prime minister, revealed yesterday that Mr Kim had written him a letter to the Australian parliament accusing Mr Trump of threatening "to destroy the world."

    A US Air Force B-1B Lancer takes off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, amid moutning tensions with North Korea
    A US Air Force B-1B Lancer takes off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, amid moutning tensions with North Korea Credit: JOSHUA SMOOT/AFP

    "If Trump thinks he would bring the DPRK [North Korea], a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance… From the first day of his office Trump has engaged himself in high-handed and arbitrary practice,” the letter said.

    Mr Pompeo did not specify how the United States should react, but did say  President Donald Trump was prepared to use force to prevent North Korea being able to threaten America.

    He appeared to brush off the possibility of using less orthodox methods, however.  

    "With respect to, if Kim Jong-un should vanish, given the history of the CIA, I’m just not going to talk about it," he said when asked what would happen if Mr Kim suddenly died.  

    "Someone might think there was a coincidence. ’You know, there was an accident.’ It’s just not fruitful," he said.

    What analysts believe could be a Hwasong 12 missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in April
    What analysts believe could be a Hwasong 12 missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in April Credit: Wong Maye-E/AP

    Mr Pompeo was criticized for saying the US intelligence community did not believe Russia had managed to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election. 

    “The intelligence community’s assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election,” Pompeo said at the same security conference.

    That appeared to contradict a joint report released by US intelligence agencies in January, which said Russia had run an "unprecedented" election interference campaign to help elect Donald Trump, but reached no conclusions about whether it succeeded in influencing the outcome.   

     

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