Pacific Commander: U.S. Can Intercept North Korean Missiles

By Scott Neuman / NPR

Published April 9, 2013 at 9:34 AM PDT

This story was published more than 11 years ago.

The launch of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket in December in a photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said Tuesday that American forces currently have the ability to intercept a North Korean ballistic missile.

Adm. Samuel Locklear, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, was asked by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), if the U.S. had the ability to intercept a North Korean missile launched "within the next several days."

Locklear replied: "We do."

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McCain: "Would you recommend such action?"

"If [it] was in defense of the homeland, I would certainly recommend that action and if it was in defense of our allies, I would recommend that action," Locklear said.

In case of a North Korean launch "we should have a since of where it's going to be aimed," he added. "If we don't, it doesn't take long for us to determine where it's going and where it's going to land."

He said that Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles was a clear threat to the United States and its allies in the Pacific and said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's remained untested and unpredictable.