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Posted at 2:25 p.m., Thursday, April 28, 2005

Officials: N. Korea years from nuclear warhead capability

By John J. Lumpkin
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence analysts believe North Korea is several years away from being able to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile that is capable of reaching Hawai'i and other U.S. targets, two defense officials said today.

The officials, discussing intelligence assessments on the condition of anonymity, said analysts believe North Korea has not solved all of the difficulties of turning a nuclear device into a small warhead for a intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea has an untested long-range missile, called a Taepo Dong 2, and is believed to have made at least one nuclear weapon, according to public intelligence estimates. Combining the two is another challenge, the officials said.

The officials spoke after Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, discussed North Korea's capabilities during questioning by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today.

Clinton asked if "North Korea has the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device?"

Jacoby answered, "My assessment is that they have the capability to do that."

Clinton then asked, "And do you assess that North Korea has the ability to deploy a two-stage intercontinental nuclear missile that could successfully hit U.S. territory?"

Jacoby responded, "Yes, the assessment on a two-stage missile would give capability to reach portions of U.S. territory and the projection on a three-stage missile would be that it would be able to reach most of the continental United States. That still is a theoretical capability in a sense that those missiles have not been tested."

U.S. intelligence believes a two-stage Taepo Dong 2 could hit Hawai'i, Alaska, and perhaps parts of the West Coast. North Korea also has shorter-range missiles which, some officials have said, could carry a nuclear warhead as far as Japan.

Clinton said Jacoby's testimony was "troubling beyond words." Some congressional officials said they interpreted his statements to mean the North Koreans had figured out how to make a nuclear warhead capable of being attached to a missile that could reach the United States. This would mark a significant increase in North Korea's capabilities.

The DIA, however, said in a statement late today that Jacoby was only reiterating a statement he made in March that North Korea's missiles were capable of carrying a warhead — but not that they had actually developed such a warhead.

Six-nation nuclear talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions have been stalled since June. In addition to the United States and North Korea, the negotiations include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea

Washington's top envoy on the issue, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said today in South Korea that the North's refusal to return to the talks is a problem but they are the best way to resolve matters.

South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said there has not been any evidence that North Korea is getting ready to conduct a nuclear test, as some recent reports have indicated.