US deems North Korea nuclear strike unlikely without threat to dynasty

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

US deems North Korea nuclear strike unlikely without threat to dynasty

Chris McGreal
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 March 2013 19.28 GMT

North Korea is unlikely to carry out its bellicose threats to unleash a nuclear attack on the US and South Korea unless the Kim dynasty's control of the communist regime is threatened, the White House intelligence chief said on Tuesday.

But James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, cautioned that Pyongyang remains an unpredictable and serious threat because it is difficult to gauge at what point North Korea's leadership would feel its existence to be in jeopardy.

Clapper's assessment to a Senate committee on Tuesday came as the North Korean state press said people are ready to "rain bullets on the enemy" amid increasing tensions since Pyongyang announced the 1953 armistice with Seoul was at an end.

State-run television reported mass rallies across North Korea against the US and said Kim Jong-un had told troops to be on "maximum alert" for a potential war. Kim told troops stationed near disputed waters that have been the scene of previous clashes that "war can break out right now".

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/12/us-north-korea-nuclear-strike-unlikely

[AC_Mem]

1. The sky is falling!

"war can break out right now".

Where is Dennis Rodman when you need him?

[Lint Head]

2. Dynasty?