North Korea unlikely to give up nuclear weapons

WASHINGTON, Jan 29 - North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons capabilities despite recent moves indicating it was open to such actions, the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told a Senate panel on Tuesday.

"We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ulitimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival," Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee.