"If North Korea has a 15-meter-long missile with the range of 5,500 kilometers, then it means that Pyongyang has reached a level of technological development comparable to that of the USSR in the 1960s-1970s when it comes to ICBM technology," he said.
Khrustalev suggested that if North Korea has nuclear warheads, it will have to conduct tests to make sure that they can reach their designated target.
The analyst further said that North Korea missile program has been designed to serve as a deterrent against Washington's military capabilities, not South Korea. However, Seoul "has used this as a pretext to increase defense spending," he said.
Earlier this week, John E. McLaughlin, the former acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), told the US House Armed Services Committee that North Korea could complete an ICBM with a nuclear warhead before Donald Trump's first term comes to an end. This could even happen within two years, he suggested.
"In the last few years … a series of developments has moved the isolated state up near the top of the US 'nightmare list.' First, the North's ability to project military power far beyond its borders has grown dangerously. Second, its leader is not just implacably hostile to the United States – he is also much more volatile and unpredictable than his predecessors," he added.
However, Kim Dongyeop, a professor of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University told Sputnik that Pyongyang has so far not tested a missile with a range of 5,500 kilometers or more.
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