North Korea's nuclear program poses a potential "existential threat" to the United States, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Tuesday.
"The decision time is becoming ever closer in terms of how we respond to this," Coats said in remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
"Our goal is a peaceful settlement," he added. "We're using maximum pressure on North Korea in various ways."
Asked about Pyongyang's nuclear program, Coats said "this is an existential threat, potentially to the United States, but also to North Korea."
North Korean leader "Kim Jong Un views this as -- any kind of a kinetic attack or effort to force him to give up his nuclear weapons -- is an existential threat to his nation and to his leadership in particular," Coats said.
"The provocative nature and the instability that Kim has demonstrated potentially is a significant threat to the United States," he said.
Coats said earlier the United States expects additional missile tests from North Korea this year.
Please click to read our informative text prepared pursuant to the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 and to get information about the cookies used on our website in accordance with the relevant legislation.
6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu uyarınca hazırlanmış aydınlatma metnimizi okumak ve sitemizde ilgili mevzuata uygun olarak kullanılan çerezlerle ilgili bilgi almak için lütfen tıklayınız.
