Senior U.S. general says North Korea missiles have range but lack accuracy

Record ID: 903190

  • Title: Senior U.S. general says North Korea missiles have range but lack accuracy
  • Date: 18th July 2017
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JULY 18, 2017) (UNRESTRICTED POOL - BROADCASTERS: NONE DIGITAL: NONE) U.S. AIR FORCE GENERAL PAUL SELVA AT A HEARING OF THE U.S. SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE WIDE SHOT HEARING OF THE U.S. SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. AIR FORCE GENERAL PAUL SELVA, IN AN EXCHANGE WITH REPUBLICAN SENATOR JOHN INHOFE, SAYING: SELVA: "I do agree in principle with the assessment that the North Koreans are moving quickly to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capability. I, however, am not sanguine that the test on the 4th of July demonstrates that they have the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success. What the experts tell me is that the North Koreans have yet to demonstrate the capacity to do the guidance and control that would be required." INHOFE: "Yes. No, I was only referring to range. SELVA: "Yes, sir. On range, they clearly have the capability." INHOFE: "In, you know, if they have the capability in range, the other improvements are, perhaps, not too far behind." SELVA: "Yes, sir. We'll have to watch very carefully with the (unintelligible) the developments on those particular capabilities. I do agree with the intelligence community and others that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is an arms proliferator. There's no evidence that they have engaged in proliferation of their long-range ballistic missile technology. But they have proliferated every other weapon system that they've ever invented. So, it's a pretty clear pathway to the potential pool of proliferation of these kinds of weapons systems." U.S. AIR FORCE GENERAL PAUL SELVA AT A HEARING OF THE U.S. SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2017 17:56
  • Keywords: General Paul Selva North Korea missile Senate Armed Services Committee
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016Q8WDHJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: North Korea does not have the ability to strike the United States with "any degree of accuracy" and while its missiles have the range, they do not have missile guidance capability needed, Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva said on Tuesday.
    "I, however, am not sanguine that the test on the 4th of July demonstrates that they have the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence or success," Selva said while appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
    Earlier this month North Korea said it had conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and that it had mastered the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on the missile.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register