North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's son and heir Jong-un's "youth and inexperience increase the likelihood of miscalculation," the next commander of the U.S. Forces Korea has warned. "These factors make him less predictable in the near term." | This does seem obvious, but perhaps a fair bit of the world doesn't follow the news in Korea. |
But until full control of South Korean forces is handed back to Seoul next year, the CFC "must continue readiness preparations to fight and win a war with North Korea and at the same time prepare to deal with the complexity of a regime collapse and the attendant consequences," he said.
Thurman said the North has an inventory of more than 800 ballistic missiles and continues to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.
"North Korea grows closer to threatening the western United States and striking Okinawa, Guam and Alaska," he said. "This missile development program presents a threat which cannot be ignored."