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Our top story this morning... A top U.S. military official is warning the
ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea to the mainland United States has developed
from a "theoretical" consideration to a "practical" concern.
Kwon Soa starts us off. The latest comments by a leading U.S. military
figure show the U.S. is growing increasingly concerned by the ballistic missile threat
posed by North Korea. At a Senate hearing Thursday, General Charles
Jacoby, head of the Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said that,
while threats to U.S. national security were becoming gradually more imperceptible, the
U.S. military could make a confident assessment of
where North Korea is in terms of ballistic missile capability.
"Tangible evidence of North Korean and Iranian ambitions confirms that limited ballistic
missile threat to the homeland has matured from a theoretical to a practical consideration."
He added that his agencies were working with the Missile Defense Agency to deal with the
potential proliferation of dangerous technologies to other states or terrorist groups.
South Korea-based news channel YTN reported Friday that Jacoby also referred to the ICBM
that was paraded through Pyongyang at the 60th anniversary of the Korean War truce celebration
in July of last year. North Korea has developed and tested a number
of short- and medium-range missiles, including a series of Scud missile and short-range projectile
firings in recent weeks, but analysts have generally discounted claims the regime has
the capability to construct a miniature nuclear device for
intercontinental ballistic missile delivery. Experts worry that, if Pyongyang does possess
such technology, the regime will pose a much greater security threat to South Korea, Japan
and the United States. Kwon Soa, Arirang News.