Mattis says North Korean ICBM not yet a 'capable threat' against US

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that analysis continued on North Korea`s most recent missile test, but he did not believe its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) posed an imminent threat to the United States.

"It has not yet shown to be a capable threat against us right now ... we`re still doing the forensics analysis," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon.

Last month, North Korea said it had successfully tested a new type of ICBM that could reach all of the US mainland and South Korea and US-based experts said data from the November29 test appeared to support that.

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Mattis did not elaborate on what was lacking in the test to show it was not a capable threat.

He said himself immediately after the test that the missile had gone higher than any previous North Korean launch and that it was part of a research and development effort "to continue building ballistic missiles that can threaten everywhere in the world, basically."

US-based experts, some of whom have been sceptical about past North Korean claims, said last month that data and photos from the test appeared to confirm North Korea had a missile of sufficient power to deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in America.

But experts and US officials have said questions remain about whether it has a re-entry vehicle capable of protecting a nuclear warhead as it speeds toward its target and about the accuracy of its guidance systems.

South Korea`s Defense Ministry said this latest test put Washington within range, but Pyongyang still needed to prove it had mastered re-entry, terminal stage guidance and warhead activation.

Some US-based experts believe North Korea could be only two or three tests away from being able to declare the missile operational.

US President Donald Trump vowed "it won`t happen" after North Korean said in January is was in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States.

Trump has said all options are on the table, including military ones, although his administration has made clear it prefers a diplomatic solution.
"It continues to be a diplomatically led effort," Mattis said. "When we`re ready to have conversations ... dialogues, that will be up to the president and secretary of state."

At a UN Security Council session on the crisis on Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged North Korea to carry out a "sustained cessation" of weapons testing to allow the two countries to hold talks.