North Korea Is An ‘Existential Threat’ To the South

U.S. President Barack Obama visits U.S. military personnel stationed at Observation Post Ouellette along the Demilitarized Zone which borders North and South Korea, outside Seoul. REUTERS/Larry Downing

South Korean Official Warns Of ‘Existential Threat’ From North -- New York Times

SEOUL, South Korea — A senior South Korean policy maker on North Korea said on Friday that it must be assumed that the North has the capacity to mount a nuclear device on a ballistic missile, adding that such a capability would pose “an existential threat” to South Korea.

The official, who spoke to a group of journalists on condition of anonymity, stressed that reliable information about the North’s capabilities is scarce, and he cautioned that he was not confirming that the North had built an operational nuclear weapon. But his comment, which was one of the most explicitly worded assessments of the North’s nuclear and missile capabilities by a senior official, reflected growing concern in the South Korean government that the North may have more advanced technology than previously believed.

“We must assume that North Korea has already reached the stage” of “being able to mount a nuclear device on its ballistic missiles,” the official said. “If not, they are getting closer to that level.”

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My Comment: The North Korean government has always been an existential threat to the South .... I hope the South is not figuring that out right now.