U.S. Officials: North Korea Poses Serious Threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of National Intelligence says an unpredictable North Korea, with its nuclear weapons and missile programs, stands as a serious threat to the United States and East Asia nations.

James R. Clapper delivered that sober assessment Tuesday in testimony to the Senate Intelligence committee. He and newly installed CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director Robert Mueller provided an overview to Congress on worldwide threats.

Clapper discussed the global threats of terrorism, cyber, weapons of mass destruction, the months-long civil war in Syria and the unsettled situation in post-Arab Spring nations.

The outlook on North Korea comes as the communist regime announced that it was "completely scrapping" the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War and has maintained peace on the peninsula for more than half a century.