Experts Warn Nuclear-Tipped Missiles Are North Korea;s Next Goal

Kim Tae-woo is a senior analyst with Seoul's Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. He says two types of North Korean missile, the medium-range Rodong and the longer-range Taepodong lines, eventually may be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Kim says a nuclear device would need to weigh one ton or less to be placed successfully on a missile. To fit on a Rodong missile, he says it should weigh no more than 500 kilograms. North Korea tested at least seven missiles in July, including one long-range Taepodong-2 theoretically capable of reaching parts of the United States. That missile apparently failed within minutes of leaving the ground. This week, Pyongyang said it had exploded a nuclear device. While international experts are not yet certain if there was a successful nuclear blast, it is clear, they say, that the isolated country is moving forward in its efforts to build a nuclear bomb. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to prevent an attack by the United States. Washington has said repeatedly it has no intention of attacking North Korea, and calls on the country to comply with its past pledges to not build nuclear weapons.