Defense News: US intel chief: North Korea is the ‘hardest intelligence collection target’
MELBOURNE, Australia — North Korea remains “a critical threat to the United States and our allies in Northeast Asia,” while China continues on a sweeping military modernization plan that “includes the development of capabilities to conduct long-range attacks against adversary forces that might deploy or operate in the western Pacific Ocean,” according to the director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.
Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on threats to the national security of the United States.
North Korea
On North Korea, Ashley called the isolationist country the United States’ “hardest intelligence collection target.” Unsurprisingly, he also touched on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s pursuit of nuclear warheads and the ballistic missiles to deliver them against the United States. He specifically noted that in 2016 and 2017, North Korea launched more than 40 short-, medium-, intermediate- intercontinental-range, and submarine-launched missiles, adding that although “flight tests on longer-range missiles in 2016 were marked by multiple failures and setbacks, 2017 saw Pyongyang making advancements.”
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WNU Editor: The U.S. may have problems obtaining information on North Korea, but I would not be surpirsed if South Korean and Chinese intelligence are on top with what is happening in North Korea, and they are feeding that intel to the U.S.. As for us .... the public .... we have to read this ....U.S., South Korean intelligence probe reports of Kim Jong Un health woes (FOX News).