No Proof North Korea Has Nuclear Missile Capable of Striking US Coast

A Russian delegate to the UN General Assembly says Pyongyang wanted everyone to think that they have a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the US mainland "because they don’t want to be attacked".

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Russia has no evidence that North Korea possesses a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the US mainland, a Russian delegate to the UN General Assembly told reporters in New York.

"Nothing confirms this," the delegate said, adding Pyongyang wanted everyone to think that "because they don’t want to be attacked."

The Russian official warned that an attack on the reclusive Communist state would "create a big problem for absolutely everyone."

"But everything suggests that no one will because they [North Korea] are surrounded by China and Russia," he told reporters. He stressed Russia did not want the North to develop its nuclear missile program.

North Korea has long been pushing ahead with efforts to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of reaching the continental United States and has carried out several missile tests in the last few months.

Speaking in Seoul last Saturday, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said that by sticking to its nuclear missile program the North was in effect "reducing its security," and threatened Pyongyang with a massive military response. He also said during his testimony before Congress that Washington would fire a nuclear weapon at North Korea in case of "a direct imminent or actual attack".