U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says famine has reduced the threat posed by North Korea’s military.

Gates made the remark on Thursday at a town hall meeting with soldiers at the U.S. Army's Fort Drum in upstate New York.

Gates said the famine of the mid-1990s has affected the physical and even intellectual development of those that are now coming into the eligibility zone for military service.

He added that the U.S. is continuing to closely watch the North’s development of nuclear weapons, saying that he hopes the reclusive state doesn't make any so-called “stupid mistakes.”