By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter

A top U.S. scientist warned American lawmakers of a possible catastrophic national security scenario: a possible development of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapons by rogue states, including North Korea, and a potential detonation of such a device on American soil.

William Graham, chairman of the U.S. government-sponsored ``Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States," told U.S. lawmakers that the Stalinist state has the required technologies to develop such weapons.

In a testimony to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee this month, the scientist said EMP weapons are ``one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences."

Graham told lawmakers that the detonation of such devices over the middle of the continental United States ``has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power."

He warned: ``Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability."

What's worse, he noted, is that ``a determined adversary can achieve EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication."

``For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high altitude."

He said even small nuclear weapons can create massive EMP effects, giving out an intensely fluctuating magnetic field, over wide geographic areas. ``United Nations investigators recently found that the design for an advanced nuclear weapon, miniaturized to fit on ballistic missiles currently in the inventory of Iran, North Korea and other potentially hostile states, was in the possession of Swiss criminals affiliated with the A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network."

And because the United States relies heavily on electricity and electronics, the scientist told U.S. lawmakers, ``the impact would be far worse than on a country less advanced technologically," adding that the weapon could cripple the U.S. financial system as well as the system of distribution for food and water and medical care.

michaelha@koreatimes.co.kr