US deems North Korea nuke strike unlikely without threat to dynasty
London, Mar. 13 : North Korea is unlikely to carry out a nuclear attack on the US and South Korea unless Kim Jong Un's control of the communist regime is threatened, the White House intelligence chief has said.
James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, however warned that Pyongyang remained 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, the Guardian reports.
According to the report, Clapper's assessment to a Senate committee 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.
Clapper described the threats from Pyongyang as 'very belligerent' and said he is 'very concerned about the actions of the new young leader,' the report said.
Last week the North Korean military issued a statement saying it 'will make a strike of justice at any target anytime as it pleases without limit', the report added.