Last month Kim Jong-un boasted his nation was now a full nuclear force after “successfully” testing a new type of ICBM that could reach “all the US mainland”.
However, various experts and US officials have been divided over the ICBM’s capability, with some claiming data from November 29 launch could support the dictator’s warmongering declaration.
Now ongoing analysis from the US has revealed it may not be an imminent threat to the US.
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said that while analysis continued on North Korea’s most recent missile test,he did not believe its ICBM posed an imminent threat to the US.
Mr Mattis said: ”It has not yet shown to be a capable threat against us right now … we’re still doing the forensics analysis.”
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He did not elaborate on what was lacking in the test to show it was not a capable threat but other US officials have questioned its re-entry capabilities from space into the Earth’s atmosphere and the accuracy of its guidance systems.
However, Mr Mattis said immediately after the test that the missile had gone higher than any previous North Korean launch and that it was part of a research and development effort “to continue building ballistic missiles that can threaten everywhere in the world, basically”.
US-based experts, some of whom have been skeptical about past North Korean claims, said last month that data and photos from the test appeared to confirm North Korea had a missile of sufficient power to deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in America.
But other experts and US officials have said questions remain about whether it has a re-entry vehicle capable of protecting a nuclear warhead as it speeds toward its target and about the accuracy of its guidance systems.
South Korea’s defence ministry said this latest test put Washington within range, but Pyongyang still needed to prove it had mastered re-entry, terminal stage guidance and warhead activation.
Some US-based experts believe North Korea could be only two or three tests away from being able to declare the missile operational.
Earlier this year Donald Trump vowed “it won’t happen” after Kim Jong-un claimed North Korea was in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the US during his New Year’s adress
The US President has said all options are on the table, including military ones, although his administration has made clear it prefers a diplomatic solution.
His Defence Secretary added: “It continues to be a diplomatically led effort.
“When we’re ready to have conversations … dialogues, that will be up to the President and Secretary of State.”
At a UN Security Council session on the crisis on Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged North Korea to carry out a “sustained cessation” of weapons testing to allow the two countries to hold talks.