‘North to master missile reentry tech in two years’
While backing Trump’s tough talk, US officials including National Security Adviser HR McMaster played down the risk on Sunday of the rhetoric escalating into conflict.
“I think we’re not closer to war than a week ago, but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago,” McMaster told ABC News’ “This Week”.
US Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might well conduct another missile test but talk of being on the cusp of a nuclear war was overstating the risk. “I’ve seen no intelligence that would indicate that we’re in that place today,” Pompeo told “Fox News Sunday”.
However, North Korea reiterated its threats, with its official KCNA news agency saying “war cannot be blocked by any power if sparks fly due to a small, random incident that was unintentional”.
“Any second Korean War would have no choice but to spread into a nuclear war,” it said in a commentary on Monday.
North Korea still does not appear to have mastered missile re-entry technology and will take at least one or two more years to do so, although its ability to miniaturise a nuclear warhead is advancing quickly, South Korea’s vice defence minister said.
“Both the United States and South Korea do not believe North Korea has yet completely gained re-entry technology in material engineering terms,” Vice Defence Minister Suh Choo-suk said in televised remarks on Sunday for a Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) show.
“We don’t feel they’ve reached that point yet but it’s true they are approaching it. We can’t pinpoint the exact timing, but it will take at least one to two more years.”Suh said North Korea is likely to continue provocations, including nuclear tests, but did not see a big risk of actual military conflict.