AP, Washington :
General Joseph Dunford warns that Pyongyang has not altered its behaviour despite threats from Donald Trump
North Korea will develop nuclear weapons capable of reaching the US within a “very short time”, a top US general has warned.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, said the intelligence services had not detected any change in Pyongyang’s military stance despite President Donald Trump’s fiery rhetoric against them.
The Republican has repeatedly threatened “fire and fury” against the secretive regime after it stepped up its nuclear and ballistic missile tests in 2017.Speaking at a White House news conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump said the US was ready with a “military option” which he said will be “devastating”.
“If we take that option, it will be devastating, I can tell you that, devastating for North Korea. That’s called the military option. If we have to take it, we will,” he warned.
Pyongyang has remained defiant and responded to one of Mr Trump’s early threats of military action by saying it was preparing to attack the US-controlled island of Guam in Micronesia.
General Dunford told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his reappointment that “North Korea certainly poses the greatest threat today”.
Although Mr Trump has repeatedly said Pyongyang developing nuclear missiles capable of reaching the US mainland “will not happen”, General Dunford said they will have the capability “soon”.
“We clearly have postured our forces to respond in the event of a provocation or a conflict”, the general said, adding that the United States has taken “all proper measures to protect our allies” including South Korea and Japan.
“It would be an incredibly provocative thing for them to conduct a nuclear test in the Pacific as they have suggested, and I think the North Korean people would have to realise how serious that would be, not only for the United States but for the international community”, he added.
It comes as South Korean politician Lee Cheol-uoo, briefed by the country’s spy agency, said North Korea was bolstering its defences by moving aircraft to its east coast and taking other measures after the flight by US bombers.
Mr Lee said the United States appeared to have disclosed the flight route intentionally because North Korea seemed to be unaware.
