“We will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state, we will not accept North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons. Period.”The threat from North Korea is growing “more acute by the day” as the country ramps up its missile and nuclear tests, he added. “We are focused on increasing the pressure on North Korea with one purpose: To bring it back to the table to negotiate in good faith denuclearization. Clapper’s comment reflected an opinion widely held among North Korea experts but one only expressed in private by senior US administration officials who feel a policy change is overdue. State Department spokesman John Kirby has already rebuffed Clapper’s position, stressing that “nothing has changed” with the Obama administration’s policy of pushing the North—through a toughened sanction regime—to give up its nuclear weapons.

Source: Manila Times October 27, 2016 10:06 UTC