A U.S. think tank has selected North Korea’s nuclear development and missile testing as the top contingency of the year. 

A Preventive Priorities Survey released by the Council on Foreign Relations(CFR) on Thursday outlined the ranking based on its survey on 550 foreign policy experts. 

According to the report, the North’s further development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles was judged to be both a high-likelihood and high-impact risk for U.S. interests. 

The report said the risk accompanying North Korea’s continuous pursuit of such weapons is higher than that posed by cyberattacks targeting major U.S. institutions. It said although the Joe Biden transition team has said little about North Korean threats, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is showing intent to challenge the new U.S. administration. 

Kim called for further strengthening of its nuclear war deterrent during the regime’s rare party congress that ended early this week, with a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, the CFR report raised a crisis between the U.S. and China over Taiwan to a Tier I risk, while assessing a military clash between China and India as a Tier II risk.