US intelligence chief Dan Coats contradicts President Trump, says North Korea won’t give up nukes because they’re ‘critical to regime survival’
- Trump asserted after the Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un last year that North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat
- US officials have also revealed Russia made a secret proposal to North Korea, offering Pyongyang a nuclear power plant
“We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival,” Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, told a Senate hearing, referring to weapons of mass destruction.
The “Worldwide Threat Assessment” report on which Coats based his testimony said US intelligence continues to “observe activity inconsistent with” full nuclear disarmament by the North. “In addition, North Korea has for years underscored its commitment to nuclear arms, including through an order in 2018 to mass-produce weapons and an earlier law – and constitutional change – affirming the country’s nuclear status,” it said.
Trump asserted after the Singapore summit that North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat. However, Coats and other intelligence officials made clear they see it differently.
“The capabilities and threat that existed a year ago are still there,” said Lieutenant General Robert Ashley, the director of the Defence Intelligence Agency.