By Zachary Keck
The top U.S. military officer in Korea says that Pyongyang can place a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.
North Korea has the ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads, the top U.S. military commander in Korea said on Friday.
On Friday General Curtis Scaparrotti, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, briefed reporters at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. During the press conference, Scaparrotti was asked if North Korea had the capability to marry a miniaturized nuclear warhead to a ballistic missile.
“Personally I think that they certainly have had the expertise in the past,” Scaparrotti said. He added, “They’ve had the right connections, and so I believe have the capability to have miniaturized a device at this point, and they have the technology to potentially actually deliver what they say they have.”
He later clarified that he doesn’t believe North Korea has actually placed a nuclear warhead on a missile yet, and stressed that his assessment of Pyongyang’s capabilities was based on his personal opinion rather than on hard evidence.
“I don’t know that they do. What I’m saying is, is that I think given their technological capabilities, the time that they been working on this, that they probably have the capabilities to put this together. I don’t believe that they have. I don’t know that they have at this point.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat