WASHINGTON -- North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles pose a serious threat to the United States, the chief U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday.

"North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs also pose a serious threat, both regionally and beyond," National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing. "Pyongyang has signaled a willingness to re-engage in dialogue, but it also craves international recognition as a nuclear weapons power, and it has shown troubling willingness to sell nuclear technologies."

The chief spy's remarks are in line with U.S. military leaders.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last month that North Korea's missiles and nuclear weapons will pose a threat to the U.S. within five years. The defense chief urged North Korea to impose a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing to help revive stalled six-party nuclear talks.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said last month that "unless North Korea is deterred, that sometime in the next, I'm not sure but, five to 10 years, the provocations ... will continue at a much higher threat level, which could include a nuclear-capable ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile)."

The multilateral nuclear talks have been deadlocked for more than two years over the North's nuclear and missile tests and other provocations.

North Korea also revealed in November a uranium enrichment plant that could serve as a second way of building nuclear bombs in addition to its existing plutonium program, despite Pyongyang's claims it is producing fuel for power generation.

Clapper said in a report presented to the hearing that the North apparently has more uranium enrichment facilities than the one in its nuclear complex in Yongbyon, north of its capital Pyongyang, that was revealed last year.

"Based on the scale of the facility and the progress the DPRK has made in construction, it is likely that North Korea has been pursuing enrichment for an extended period of time," the chief spy said. "If so, there is clear prospect that DPRK has built other uranium enrichment-related facilities in its territory, including likely R&D and centrifuge fabrication facilities and other enrichment facilities." DPRK is North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Earlier in the day in Tokyo, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Seiji Maehara called on the U.N. Security Council to take up the uranium issue for possible additional sanctions on the North, which is already under international sanctions for its second nuclear test and a rocket launch in 2009.

China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally, opposes bringing the uranium issue to the council, citing an adverse impact on the revival of the six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.

Beijing wants the talks to reopen as soon as possible without any conditions attached, while Seoul and Washington demand Pyongyang first apologize for the shelling of a South Korean front-line island and the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 50 people last year.

In an apparent bid to pave the way for the resumption of the six-party negotiations, North Korea recently proposed to revive high-level inter-Korean military dialogue, but walked out of preparatory talks last week citing South Korea's demand for an apology for the provocations. (Yonhap)




美 "北, ICBM 관련기술 실험 다수성공"

제임스 클래퍼 미국 국가정보국(DNI) 국장은 16일 북한의 핵무기와 미사일 프로그램이 역내는 물론 역외에까지 심각한 위협이 되고 있다고 밝혔다.

클래퍼 국장은 미 상원 정보위원회에 출석, 모두발언을 통해 "북한은 대화를 재개하고 싶어하는 신호를 보이고 있지만, 핵보유국으로서의 국제적 인정을 함께 갈망하고 있다"면서 이같이 말했다.

그는 "또 북한은 핵기술들을 판매할 용의가 있음을 보여왔다"고 말했다.

클래퍼 국장은 또 상원 정보위에 제출한 연례안보위협 보고서에서 북한이 1998년 대포동 1호를 시험발사한데 이어 2006년과 2009년 대포동 2호 미사일을 시험발사한 사실을 거론하면서 "북한은 자신들이 언급한 조그만 통신 위성을 궤도로 진입시키는 목표에는 실패했지만, ICBM(대륙간탄도미사일)과 관련된 많은 기술들을 성공적으로 실험했다"고 평가했다.

그는 이어 "비록 대포동 2호 발사가 실패했지만, 2009년 실험은 2006년도보다 좀 더 완성된 성능을 보여줬다"면서 "북한의 대포동 2호 개발은 장거리 탄도미사일과 우주발사체 능력을 얻으려는 의지를 보여준다"고 말했다.

클래퍼 국장은 "만일 ICBM으로 만들어진다면 대포동 2호는 최소한 미국의 일부에는 도달할 수 있을 것"이라면서 "대포동 2호나 관련 기술이 수출될 수도 있다"고 우려했다.

앞서 마이크 멀린 미 합참의장은 북한의 핵.미사일 역량은 계속 진화하고 있으며, 향후 5∼10년 이내에 북한이 핵무기를 탑재할 수 있는 ICBM을 가질 수 있을 것이라고 최근 밝혔다.

한편 클래퍼 국장은 이날 북한군의 전력이 약화되긴 했지만 여전히 가공할 전력을 유지하고 있다면서 "지난해 3월 천안함 공격이 증명하듯이 북한은 역내 안정을 위협할 수 있는 군사작전을 수행할 능력을 갖고 있다"고 지적했다.