“The United States government believes North Korea has the capability to launch a nuclear weapon against the U.S. homeland and stands ready to defend itself against any such attacks,” a high-level U.S. military official said on Wednesday.
Admiral Bill Gortney, Commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defence Command, said he agreed with U.S. intelligence assessments that North Korea had nuclear weapons, as well as the ability to miniaturise them and put them on a rocket that could reach the U.S.
“We assess that they have the capability to reach the homeland with a nuclear weapon from a rocket,” Admiral Gortney told an event hosted by the Atlantic Council think-tank.
“Kim’s behaviour volatile”
The Admiral said it was very difficult to predict the behaviour of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but the U.S. military was prepared to respond if he were to use a nuclear weapon.
“We are ready for him, and we are ready 24 hours a day if he should be dumb enough to shoot something at us,” Admiral Gortney said. “I am pretty confident that we are going to knock down the numbers that are going to be shot.”
New satellite announcement
North Korea’s space agency said last month Pyongyang was building a new satellite and readying it for launch, with any use of a long-range rocket suggesting that the secretive state had made advances in developing a ballistic missile.
North Korea has said its rocket launches are part of a legitimate space programme aimed at putting satellites into orbit. It has in the past conducted missile tests in defiance of international warnings and sanctions.
‘N. Korea can launch ICBM’
The U.S. Missile Defence Agency said in March that North Korea could achieve the ability to launch an inter-continental ballistic missile this year.
On Wednesday, Admiral Gortney said the U.S. military was investing to modernise its current missile defence system, add new sensors and radars to better identify potential missile launches, and drive down the cost of defending against such attacks.
He warned that the failure of the U.S. Congress to pass a budget for fiscal year 2016, or a resumption of mandatory budget cuts, could jeopardise the funding needed for such efforts.
