A top US general said yesterday that North Korea's missile and nuclear capabilities combined could pose one of the key threats to world peace.
"One of the biggest threats to peace and stability is the potential capability for North Korea to couple its missile technology with its demonstrated nuclear ability," said General B.B. Bell, the commander of US troops in South Korea.
"This threat is real -- it has peninsular, regional and global implications, and we cannot and must not ignore it," said the general, who leads combined US and South Korean forces, including 29,500 US troops.
His remarks come amid recent renewed hopes that North Korea will end its nuclear weapons capability after Pyongyang decided to push ahead with a previously stalled nuclear disarmament deal agreed to during international talks in February.
"We are all very hopeful that the North Koreans will now live up to the agreements they have made," Bell also said during his speech to reporters. "Today, there is an historical opportunity for the North Koreans to join the peaceful nations of the world. Again, we are hopeful."
UN inspectors visited North Korea last week to discuss closing down its Yongbyon reactor, a source of bomb-making plutonium. The chief US nuclear envoy has said he expects the reactor to start shutting down from the middle of this month.
However, North Korea still posed a threat, the general said, saying its 1.2 million troops, long-range artillery systems deployed close to the border, special forces and missiles remain.
North Korea has also been feverishly developing long-range ballistic missiles, some of which are thought capable of reaching the west coast of the US. It has also been producing short and mid-range missiles.
Pyongyang successfully tested short-range missiles recently, which Bell said were "advanced" weapons that could directly harm South Korea, its people and its troops.
"These are modern and solid-fuel, which means that they are easy to handle and rapidly capable of being fired," Bell said. "They are technically threatening to this nation ... Missiles of this nature could be used by any foreign nations to prosecute a tactical war."
The alliance between the US and South Korea, dating back to the 1950 to 1953 Korean War, would remain strong and if required could "rapidly and decisively defeat any attack," Bell said.
Under February's nuclear disarmament deal for North Korea, Pyongyang must agree to eventually completely dismantle the Yongbyon reactor.
It must also reveal all its nuclear programs, including one based on enriched uranium, which it has denied operating.
In return, Pyongyang will eventually receive energy aid equivalent to 900,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.
North Korea will receive an initial 45,000 tonnes of fuel oil -- which South Korea will begin shipping within two weeks -- for closing the Yongbyon reactor and allowing International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to return.
Yongbyon, approximately 95km north of Pyongyang, was ostensibly built to generate electricity, but it is reportedly not connected to any power lines.
Instead, experts believe it has produced enough plutonium over the past 20 years for possibly up to a dozen nuclear weapons.
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