The Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle visited Central last Tuesday to speak on the nuclear armament of North Korea and their potential threat in the near future.

Moon Duk-Ho spoke to a crowd of about 50 in the SURC Tuesday afternoon, informing them on the current status of North Korea’s Nuclear weapons.

Moon spoke on historic relations with North Korea, how they developed nuclear weapons, the recent advancements of those weapons and their projected developments.

Additionally Moon gave some of his own opinion on current relations with North Korea.

Moon said the Obama Administration has done essentially nothing to improve the situation with North Korea

The talk lasted for an hour and a half including a questions and answers period at the end and was sponsored by Central’s Department of Political Science, Graduate Program in Public Administration and Asia-Pacific Studies Program.

The main point of the talk was to inform Central students that North Korea will become a nuclear power and that they are getting close to developing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

Although North Korean nuclear weapons are relatively primitive, Moon said, they are close to developing the ballistic capabilities to be a danger to anywhere in the world.

North Korea began its first round nuclear testing in 2006 and has been developing the bombs since then according to Moon. However, it was not until recently that they demonstrated their capability of longer-range missiles to carry the warheads.

One of the more recent developments they’ve made includes a missile capable of reaching between 4,300 and 6,200 miles Moon said. Seattle is about 5,000 miles from North Korea.

North Korea is only a few steps away from creating effective ICBM according to Moon. Over the past decade, they have been testing nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and satellite launches and could be three to five years away from their goal.

One recent test of a long-range missile ended in failure but should not be ignored Moon said. North Korea should not be underestimated, Moon said, it’s easy to do so because they often exaggerate and it’s better for us, but failure doesn’t mean they aren’t making progress.