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North Korea 'has missile to strike US'
15:03 13 February 03
North Korea has the means to strike the west coast of the US with missiles and may already have developed nuclear payloads, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has warned.
George Tenet told a Senate armed services committee hearing that the Stalinist state probably had "one or two" nuclear warheads.
Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, told the same senate hearing that North Korea has a Taepodong-2 missile that could reach the US, but said this weapon had yet to be tested. The last flight test of a missile conducted by North Korea was in 1998, when a Taepodong-1 was fired over Japan.
The distance from the North Korean capital Pyongyang to Los Angeles is about 9500 kilometres. The CIA estimates the Taepodong-2's maximum range to be about 10,000 km. But, according to reports of South Korean military information, the two or three stage missile has a maximum range of 6700 km.
Heavy load
Jacoby said a Taepodong-2 could "target parts of the US with a nuclear weapon-sized payload in the two-stage configuration, and has the range to target all of North America if a third stage was used".
The disclosure came just hours after North Korea was officially reported to the United Nations Security Council by the International Atomic Energy Agency for violating international nuclear non-proliferation agreements.
But not all defence experts are convinced that North Korea has the capabilities suggested by the CIA. Ben Sheppard, a defence analyst with Jane's Information Group told New Scientist: "It's technically possible for them to develop a missile that could reach the US, but whether it could carry a nuclear payload is somewhat questionable."
A first generation nuclear warhead could weigh as much as 1000 kilograms, he says, which a Taepodong-2 would be unable to carry so far. Sheppard adds that it is also not clear that North Korea has successfully harnessed its nuclear energy programme for the production of nuclear weapons.
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Weblinks
Central Intelligence Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
UN Security Council
Democratic People's Republic of North Korea
The current international crisis began when the North Korea restarted a nuclear reactor that could be used to make weapons-grade plutonium in October 2002. The state then expelled IAEA inspectors on 31 December and withdrew from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty in January.
In 1993, North Korea signed a nuclear safeguards agreement officially declaring the extent of its nuclear weapons to the IAEA. Mark Gwozdecky, IAEA spokesman, was unwilling to speculate on North Korea's current nuclear weapons capabilities but told New Scientist: "In the early 90's our inspectors discovered discrepancies in North Korea's declaration. We knew that they had produced more plutonium than they had declared to us, but we were never able to determine how much more."
Gwozdecky says the IAEA would like to see North Korea allow inspectors to return to the country to continue their work.
The US, which has accelerated its controversial plans to construct a missile defence system shield, has named North Korea as a threat. North Korea has said any economic sanctions imposed in response to its renewed nuclear programme would be viewed as an act of war.
Will Knight
15:03 13 February 03
North Korea has the means to strike the west coast of the US with missiles and may already have developed nuclear payloads, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has warned.
George Tenet told a Senate armed services committee hearing that the Stalinist state probably had "one or two" nuclear warheads.
Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, told the same senate hearing that North Korea has a Taepodong-2 missile that could reach the US, but said this weapon had yet to be tested. The last flight test of a missile conducted by North Korea was in 1998, when a Taepodong-1 was fired over Japan.
The distance from the North Korean capital Pyongyang to Los Angeles is about 9500 kilometres. The CIA estimates the Taepodong-2's maximum range to be about 10,000 km. But, according to reports of South Korean military information, the two or three stage missile has a maximum range of 6700 km.
Heavy load
Jacoby said a Taepodong-2 could "target parts of the US with a nuclear weapon-sized payload in the two-stage configuration, and has the range to target all of North America if a third stage was used".
The disclosure came just hours after North Korea was officially reported to the United Nations Security Council by the International Atomic Energy Agency for violating international nuclear non-proliferation agreements.
But not all defence experts are convinced that North Korea has the capabilities suggested by the CIA. Ben Sheppard, a defence analyst with Jane's Information Group told New Scientist: "It's technically possible for them to develop a missile that could reach the US, but whether it could carry a nuclear payload is somewhat questionable."
A first generation nuclear warhead could weigh as much as 1000 kilograms, he says, which a Taepodong-2 would be unable to carry so far. Sheppard adds that it is also not clear that North Korea has successfully harnessed its nuclear energy programme for the production of nuclear weapons.
Inspectors expelled
Related Stories
North Korean nuclear tension eases
US missile defence shield operational by 2004
17 December 2002
North Korea admits nuclear weapons plan
17 October 2002
For more related stories
search the print edition Archive
Weblinks
Central Intelligence Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
UN Security Council
Democratic People's Republic of North Korea
The current international crisis began when the North Korea restarted a nuclear reactor that could be used to make weapons-grade plutonium in October 2002. The state then expelled IAEA inspectors on 31 December and withdrew from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty in January.
In 1993, North Korea signed a nuclear safeguards agreement officially declaring the extent of its nuclear weapons to the IAEA. Mark Gwozdecky, IAEA spokesman, was unwilling to speculate on North Korea's current nuclear weapons capabilities but told New Scientist: "In the early 90's our inspectors discovered discrepancies in North Korea's declaration. We knew that they had produced more plutonium than they had declared to us, but we were never able to determine how much more."
Gwozdecky says the IAEA would like to see North Korea allow inspectors to return to the country to continue their work.
The US, which has accelerated its controversial plans to construct a missile defence system shield, has named North Korea as a threat. North Korea has said any economic sanctions imposed in response to its renewed nuclear programme would be viewed as an act of war.
Will Knight
