North Korea cannot ‘tip’ missile with nuclear warhead, US State Department says
John Kirby also said his department did not agree with president-elect Donald Trump’s assessment that China was not helping to contain Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions
North Korea continues to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile technologies but the United States does not believe it is in a position to “tip” one of them with a nuclear warhead, State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.
We do not believe that at this point in time he [Kim Jong-un] has the capability to tip one of these with a nuclear warhead
“We do not believe that at this point in time he has the capability to tip one of these with a nuclear warhead ... but we do know that he continues to want to have those capabilities and the programmes continue to march in that direction,” Kirby told reporters.
Asked whether he would agree with president-elect Donald Trump’s assessment that China was not helping to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, Kirby said: “We would not agree with that assessment.”
Trump’s transition spokesman, Sean Spicer, said the tweet spoke for itself but added that it meant, “Under his watch he’s going to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”