NUCLEAR MISSILES IN NK?

U.S. AGENCY SAYS NORTH KOREA HAS NUCLEAR WEAPON BUT SEEN UNLIKELY

Arshad Mohammed

Reuters, April 12, 2013

SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. government agency said North Korea has a nuclear weapon it can mount on a missile, adding an ominous dimension to tensions on the Korean peninsula as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks in Seoul on Friday.

However, the assessment by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was swiftly dismissed by several U.S. officials and South Korea.

Asked if war was imminent, a U.S. official in South Korea said: "Not at all".

Washington's greatest concern, the official said, was the possibility of unexpected developments linked to the inexperience of North Korea's 30-year-old leader, Kim Jong-un.

"Kim Jong-un's youth and inexperience make him very vulnerable to miscalculation. Our greatest concern is a miscalculation and where that may lead," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We have seen no indications of massive troop movements, or troops massing on the border, or massive exercises or anything like that that would back up any of the rhetoric that is going on."

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