Pentagon: North Korea Lacks Technology to Nuke US

Report Warns North Korea Might Eventually Develop Such Technology

A new Pentagon report to Congress downplays the risk of a near-term North Korean nuclear attack on the United States, noting that the nation lacks the technology to actually make such an attack.

North Korea has made some successful test explosions of atomic weapons, but is believed to be incapable of the miniaturization needed to create a deliverable warhead, and is even further away from developing an ICBM capable of reliably hitting the US.

The Pentagon report warned that the KN-08 might theoretically be capable of striking parts of the continental US, but the missile system doesn’t actually exist yet and is just something North Korea has been struggling to get a handle on.

North Korea has claimed the ability to launch nuclear weapons at the US for some time now, but its test firing of missiles, along with its limited nuclear explosions have pointed to their technology being far away from what they actually claim to have.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.