N. Korea missing 'last 2 pieces' of technology to perfect ICBMs: U.S. general

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be missing the "last two pieces" of technology to perfect its intercontinental ballistic missiles amid the regime's pause in testing, a top U.S. military official was reported as saying Friday.

Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided an assessment of North Korea's missile technology at an Air Force Association breakfast in Washington, according to Bloomberg.

He said the last two pieces of technology were a reliable reentry vehicle and a reliable "arming, firing and fusing system," which would detonate the ICBM on command.

The general attributed the shortfalls to a suspension of testing by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the wake of this year's diplomacy with the U.S.

Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump held a historic summit in Singapore in June after exchanging threats last year over the North's testing of nuclear weapons and ICBMs capable of reaching the American mainland.

Selva noted that Kim could still resume testing.

"We don't know what impact it's had on his logic, on his decision calculus," he was quoted as saying. "We have to assume he might shoot one."

hague@yna.co.kr
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