WASHINGTON- The commander of U.S. forces in South Korea said he believes Pyongyang has the capability to build a nuclear warhead that can be mounted on a ballistic missile.
Army General Curtis Scaparrotti said he thought North Korea's connection with Iran and Pakistan meant it probably had access to the expertise needed to miniaturize and mount an atomic weapon on a missile.
"I believe they have the capability to miniaturize a device at this point and they have the technology to potentially deliver what they say they have," Scaparrotti told a news conference at the Pentagon.
"We've not seen it tested, and I don't think as a commander we can afford the luxury of believing perhaps they haven't gotten there," he added.
No one outside of the inner circle of North Korea's nuclear program likely knows what advances the country has made. But mastering the step of miniaturizing a nuclear warhead would put Pyongyang far closer to its long-stated goal of acquiring a nuclear deterrent and make a mockery of years of U.N. sanctions aimed at curbing such a program.
North Korea has conducted three tests of nuclear devices, the most recent in February 2013. But miniaturizing the device, so it can be fitted into a delivery system like a bomb or missile, is a technological hurdle that has to be crossed in creating a nuclear weapon.