The CIA predicted in 2000 that the two Koreas would be unified by 2015, with South Korea emerging as a military heavyweight in Asia.

The wildly inaccurate projection was part of a 70-page report in 2000 that tried to predict the near future and also guessed that the world would be feasting on cloned beef burgers by now.

The Telegraph on Tuesday compared the present situation with the CIA's predictions and also pointed to aspects the intelligence agency got right, like the widespread use of mobile communication devices, which would signify the "biggest global transformation since the industrial revolution."

When the report came out, the dot-com bubble had just burst, leading to skepticism about the IT industry, and it would be a decade before the first smartphone hit the market.