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Thursday, Apr 11, 2013 8:35 PM UTC

Classified Pentagon report says North Korea legitimate threat

Report says Kim Jong-un likely has nukes capable of delivery by ballistic missiles, which may be unreliable

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Topics: Nuclear Weapons, North Korea, Kim Jong-un, defense intelligence agency, Pentagon,

Classified Pentagon report says North Korea legitimate threat

The Daily Beast Thursday reported on a classified Pentagon document that states that the the Defense Intelligence Agency believes “with moderate confidence” that North Korea has nuclear weapons capable of being delivered by ballistic missiles, but that the reliability of strikes would likely be low. Via The Daily Beast:

According to the report, “DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles however the reliability will be low.” That line was read aloud by Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, on Thursday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Lamborn was questioning Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who seemed taken aback and declined to answer the question, saying, “I haven’t seen it and you said it’s not publicly released, so I choose not to comment on it.”

The conclusion from the DIA plays into a larger debate within the U.S. intelligence community about North Korea’s ability to launch a nuclear missile. While North Korea has conducted three underground nuclear tests since 2006, the U.S. has been divided for years on whether the country’s engineers can place a nuclear warhead atop a ballistic missile. The DIA report now shows that the military’s most important intelligence agency believes, albeit with “moderate confidence,” that North Korea has mastered the technology.

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. More Natasha Lennard.

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