North Korea, 'could fire a nuclear-armed missile, though with "low reliability"'

[Pimander]

Pyongyang has ratcheted up tensions in the region, threatening nuclear strikes against South Korea and the US.

A leaked US intelligence report has said the North may now be capable of mounting nuclear warheads on a missile.

On Thursday, a US Congressman read out what he said was an unclassified section of a Defense Intelligence Agency study. He said it assessed "with moderate confidence" that the North could fire a nuclear-armed missile, though with "low reliability".

The North has tested both nuclear weapons and missiles, but it had been thought it had not yet developed a device small enough to be a viable and deliverable weapon.

Such a development would change the past 20 years of diplomacy, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul, all of which has been aimed at stopping North Korea from getting that sort of weapon.

But the Pentagon later denied the report, with spokesman George Little saying it would be "inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in the passage".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22118985

Isn't it going to be messy if Japan or the US Navy shoot down a nuclear armed ballistic missile?  Or is this another WMD lie?

[A51Watcher]

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