Quote (Ghot @ 15 Apr 2017 03:17)
Statement for the Record
Worldwide Threat Assessment
of the
US Intelligence Community
Senate Armed Services Committee
James R. Clapper
Director of National Intelligence
February 9, 2016
North Korea Developing WMD-Applicable Capabilities
North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs will continue to pose a serious threat to US
interests and to the security environment in East Asia in 2016. North Korea’s export of ballistic missiles
and associated materials to several countries, including Iran and Syria, and its assistance to Syria’s
construction of a nuclear reactor, destroyed in 2007, illustrate its willingness to proliferate dangerous
technologies.
We judge that North Korea conducted a nuclear test on 6 January 2016 that it claimed was a successful
test of a “hydrogen bomb.” Although we are continuing to evaluate this event, the low yield of the test is
not consistent with a successful test of a thermonuclear device. In 2013, following North Korea’s third
nuclear test, Pyongyang announced its intention to “refurbish and restart” its nuclear facilities, to include
the uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon and its graphite-moderated plutonium production reactor,
which was shut down in 2007. We assess that North Korea has followed through on its announcement by
expanding its Yongbyon enrichment facility and restarting the plutonium production reactor. We further
assess that North Korea has been operating the reactor long enough so that it could begin to recover
plutonium from the reactor’s spent fuel within a matter of weeks to months.
North Korea has also expanded the size and sophistication of its ballistic missile forces—from close-
range ballistic missiles to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)—and continues to conduct test
launches. In May 2015, North Korea claimed that it successfully tested a ballistic missile from a
submarine. Pyongyang is also committed to developing a long-range, nuclear-armed missile that is
capable of posing a direct threat to the United States; it has publicly displayed its KN08 road-mobile ICBM
on multiple occasions. We assess that North Korea has already taken initial steps toward fielding this
system, although the system has not been flight-tested.
Although North Korea issues official statements that include its justification for building nuclear weapons
and threats to use them as a defensive or retaliatory measure, we do not know the details of Pyongyang’s
nuclear doctrine or employment concepts. We have long assessed that Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities
are intended for deterrence, international prestige, and coercive diplomacy.
From the .pdf linked above.
/e Seems like Trump may be on to something. North Korean ties with Syria....imagine that.
Trump shoots a few missiles at non Russian targets in Syria, then moves a Carrier Strike Force offshore near Korea.
/e The only LIES or fake news I see, are those coming from North Korea.This report is from 2016. It has nothing to do with Trump.