WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons capabilities despite recent moves indicating it was open to such actions, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said on Tuesday.
Coats’ assessment, in testimony before a Senate panel, clashed with President Donald Trump’s periodic upbeat assessments of North Korea’s commitment to decnuclearization since his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last June.
Coats said North Korea has halted its provocative behavior related to weapons of mass destruction, has not conducted any nuclear missile tests in more than a year and has dismantled some of its nuclear infrastructure.
And Kim continues to demonstrate openness to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Coats said in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
“Having said that, we currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival,” Coats said.
“Our assessment is bolstered by our observations of some activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearization,” he said.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Frances Kerry)
The Pennsylvania presidential primary didn't have any contested contests, but Trump managed to lose nearly…
President Biden blasted Trump for taking away reproductive freedom as the former president/criminal defendant complained…
Trump broke down over the gag order and ranted about how cold the courtroom is,…
Trump is angry that no one is showing up to support him at his criminal,…
Donald Trump's lawyers couldn't defend their client's actions, so they resorted to claiming that it…
Before the gag order violation hearing, Trump went on a political rant because he was…
This website uses cookies.