US sees DPRK as security threat in Northeast Asia

WASHINGTON - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) poses one of the most critical US security challenges in Northeast Asia as it is pursuing nuclear capabilities and developing long-range ballistic missiles, the Pentagon said Thursday.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered the first report on the DPRK's military development to Congress, as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012.

The DPRK's continued pursuit of nuclear technology and capabilities, and its development of long-range ballistic missile programs - including the December 2012 Taepodong-2 missile launch and the April 2012 display of a new road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile - demonstrate its threat to regional stability and US national security, the report said.

The DPRK continues to invest in nuclear infrastructure, as it has conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 and could conduct more tests at any time, it said.

Pyongyang's development of a multi-stage rocket, highlighted by the launch of a satellite into space last December, "contributes heavily" to its efforts to build a long-range ballistic missile capable of hitting the US with a nuclear warhead, the report said, while adding that Pyongyang has yet tested a re-entry vehicle.

"DPRK will move closer to this goal, as well as increase the threat it poses to US forces and allies in the region, if it continues testing and devoting scarce regime resources to these programs," it warned.

The report, produced by the Pentagon's Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and the Defense Intelligence Agency, foresees little change in the DPRK's strategic aims under its new leader Kim Jong-un, which include using "coercive diplomacy," developing a nuclear arsenal and undermining of the US-ROK alliance.

It noted that tensions on the Korean Peninsula have grown as relations between the north and south worsen. Pyongyang has portrayed Seoul and Washington as constant threats to its sovereignty in a probable attempt to legitimize its rule, the report said.

Pentagon believes that the large, forward-deployed DPRK's military can inflict "great damage" on the Republic of Korea despite serious resource shortfalls and aging hardware, but the strength of the US-ROK alliance deters the DPRK from conducting attacks on its southern neighbor.