NKorea would only use nukes if survival at stake: US

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NKorea would only use nukes if survival at stake: US by Jitendra Joshi Jitendra Joshi Thu Feb 12, 10:48 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – North Korea is unlikely to use its nuclear weapons unless Kim Jong-Il's regime feels mortally threatened, but the Stalinist nation remains a wide-ranging menace, a top official said.

Dennis Blair, President Barack Obama's director of national intelligence, accused North Korea of exporting missiles to Iran while observing that Kim himself remains very much in charge despite an apparent stroke last year.

"Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and proliferation behavior threaten to destabilize East Asia," Blair told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, presenting the US intelligence community's annual "threat assessment."

Before its shock nuclear detonation of October 2006, North Korea was believed to have enough plutonium for at least six atomic weapons and there are "increasing concerns" that it is still enriching uranium, Blair said.

But the retired admiral added: "Pyongyang probably views its nuclear weapons as being more for deterrence, international prestige and coercive diplomacy than for war-fighting, and would consider using nuclear weapons only under certain narrow circumstances.

"We also assess Pyongyang probably would not attempt to use nuclear weapons against US forces or territory unless it perceived the regime to be on the verge of military defeat and risked an irretrievable loss of control."

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – North Korea is unlikely to use its nuclear weapons unless Kim Jong-Il's regime feels mortally threatened, but the Stalinist nation remains a wide-ranging menace, a top official said.