CIA believes North Korea weapons aimed at coercion, not just defence

CIA’s director Mike Pompeo said US President Donald Trump’s focus was on a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but the CIA was working to provide him with a range of other options.

The CIA believes North Korea’s missile program is aimed at coercion, not just self-defence, and that Pyongyang’s next logical step would be to develop an arsenal of weapons and the capability to fire multiple missiles, the agency’s director Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday.

South Korean protestors burn a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during an anti-North Korea rally outside Seoul station in Seoul on January 22. (AFP Photo)

Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, Pompeo said a key risk of allowing North Korea to develop its nuclear and missile program was proliferation to other countries. Pompeo added that US President Donald Trump’s focus was on a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but the CIA was working to provide him with a range of other options.