US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Daniel Coats has said that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its weapons of mass destruction (WMD), even as negotiations between Washington, Seoul, and Pyongyang continue in an effort to persuade North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme. In a 'statement for the record' issued on 29 January for the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Coats pointed out that, although Pyongyang has reversibly dismantled portions of its WMD infrastructure, declared its support for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, and not conducted any nuclear-capable missile or nuclear tests in more than a year, the Northeast Asian country still retains its WMD capabilities. Coats said, "[the US intelligence community] continues to assess that [North Korea] is unlikely to give up all of its WMD stockpiles, delivery systems, and production capabilities."
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