North Korean Missile Can Reach Europe: Agency
BERLIN (Dispatches) -- North Korean rockets can now be fitted with nuclear weapons and could reach Germany and central Europe, a top official with Germany's foreign intelligence agency told lawmakers this week, according to a report in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
BND Deputy Director Ole Diehl told lawmakers during a closed-door meeting that the assessment was "certain," the newspaper reported, citing participants in the briefing.
At the same time, Diehl said the agency viewed talks between North and South Korea as a positive sign. No comment was immediately available from the BND.
A senior North Korean diplomat left for Finland on Sunday for talks with former U.S. and South Korean officials, Yonhap News Agency reported, amid a series of diplomatic encounters ahead of a possible U.S.-North Korean summit.
North Korea has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
It defends the programs as a necessary deterrent against perceived plans for invasion by the United States, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean war.
Tensions have eased in recent weeks, coinciding with North Korea's participation in the Winter Olympics held in the South last month.
Representatives of North Korea, South Korea and the United States are set to meet in Finland for talks on denuclearization, according to South Korean and Finnish officials.
The North Korea talks in Finland will include American representatives who are not government officials, said Kimmo Lahdevirta, an official at the Finland foreign ministry. The U.S. does not have a diplomatic presence in North Korea.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry told CNN that former officials and private experts from South Korea would be at the "second-tier" talks on denuclearization. The ministry suggested the U.S. would also be represented in some way, without giving details.
Lahdevirta described the meeting as a "track 1.5 academic meeting ... involving representatives from North Korea, South Korea and the U.S."
So-called "track 1.5 talks" bring together a mixture of current government officials and nongovernmental experts.
Lahdevirta said no current U.S. government officials will be participating. He could not say who was coming from North or South Korea.
BND Deputy Director Ole Diehl told lawmakers during a closed-door meeting that the assessment was "certain," the newspaper reported, citing participants in the briefing.
At the same time, Diehl said the agency viewed talks between North and South Korea as a positive sign. No comment was immediately available from the BND.
A senior North Korean diplomat left for Finland on Sunday for talks with former U.S. and South Korean officials, Yonhap News Agency reported, amid a series of diplomatic encounters ahead of a possible U.S.-North Korean summit.
North Korea has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
It defends the programs as a necessary deterrent against perceived plans for invasion by the United States, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean war.
Tensions have eased in recent weeks, coinciding with North Korea's participation in the Winter Olympics held in the South last month.
Representatives of North Korea, South Korea and the United States are set to meet in Finland for talks on denuclearization, according to South Korean and Finnish officials.
The North Korea talks in Finland will include American representatives who are not government officials, said Kimmo Lahdevirta, an official at the Finland foreign ministry. The U.S. does not have a diplomatic presence in North Korea.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry told CNN that former officials and private experts from South Korea would be at the "second-tier" talks on denuclearization. The ministry suggested the U.S. would also be represented in some way, without giving details.
Lahdevirta described the meeting as a "track 1.5 academic meeting ... involving representatives from North Korea, South Korea and the U.S."
So-called "track 1.5 talks" bring together a mixture of current government officials and nongovernmental experts.
Lahdevirta said no current U.S. government officials will be participating. He could not say who was coming from North or South Korea.