The director of the U.S.’ Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) says North Korea is just months away from perfecting its nuclear weapons capabilities.

According to the Associated Press, Mike Pompeo told a national security forum in Washington on Thursday that the North is now close enough in their capabilities that from a U.S. policy perspective they should behave as if the North is on the cusp of achieving their objective of striking the U.S.

However, he distinguished between the ability to fire a single nuclear missile and the capability of producing large amounts of fissile material and developing an arsenal of weapons.

National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster also spoke at the event where he said the U.S. is in a race to resolve the issue short of military action.

[Photo : ]