(LEAD) CIA director nominee calls N. Korea ‘destabilizing force’


(ATTN: ADDS more remarks in paras 4-5)
By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) — Incoming President Donald Trump’s nominee for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director assessed Wednesday that North Korea remains a “destabilizing” force, as he stressed America faces what may be the “most challenging” national security environment in its history.

John Ratcliffe, former director of national intelligence (DNI), made the remarks during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, pointing to a series of security challenges, including those from China and Iran.

“North Korea remains a destabilizing force,” Ratcliffe said in his opening statement. “Increasing coordination among America’s rivals and adversaries threatens to compound the threats they each pose individually.”

Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his nomination to be CIA director, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025 in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)

Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his nomination to be CIA director, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025 in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)

The nominee also pointed out North Korea and other countries, which cannot compete with the U.S. in terms of kinetic firepower across the board, leverage cyber means to undermine America’s security.

“We see that with Iran and North Korea and other countries, who can’t compete with us kinetically, focus on cyber means to cause us harm. Russia certainly falls into that category as well,” he said.

He enumerated a series of security threats America has to deal with.

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remains committed to dominating the world economically, technologically and militarily. Transnational criminal organizations are flooding American communities with violence and deadly narcotics,” he said.

“The Russia-Ukraine War wages on, spreading devastation and increasing the risk of the United States being pulled into conflict with a nuclear power.”

Particularly regarding China, Ratcliffe highlighted the need for the CIA to continue and intensify its focus on threats from China and the CCP.

“As DNI, I dramatically increased the Intelligence Community’s resources devoted to China,” he said. “I openly warned the American people that from my unique vantage point as the official who saw more U.S. intelligence than anyone else, I assessed that China was far and away our top national security threat.”

On Iran, the nominee said that the Tehran regime and Iranian-backed terrorist groups continue to “export mayhem across the Middle East, and that the Islamic Republic is closer to nuclear breakout than ever before.

He also noted numerous terrorist organizations and other non-state actors that pose a “persistent” threat to the U.S. homeland.

“These threats converge at a time of rapid technological change. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing will define the future of national security, geopolitical power, and human civilization,” he said.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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