Can North Korea's Nuclear Missiles Hit The US? Senior Official Discusses Weapons' Reach

Despite ramping up its nuclear weapons program, North Korea likely does not have the capability to effectively target the United States, according to at least one senior government official. The nation doesn’t have the capacity to hit the U.S. with “any degree of accuracy,” according to Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva.

Selva appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.

Read: North Korea Ramps Up Plutonium Production For Nuclear Weapons, Report Says

“I…am not sanguine that the test on the Fourth of July demonstrates that they have the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence or success,” Selva said Tuesday, according to Reuters.

North Korea said it successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, on the Fourth of July and that it finally had the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on such a missile. United States officials confirmed that the nation had, in fact, launched an ICBM.

Selva said that although the missiles had the range, they did not have the technological guidance to effectively target the U.S.

North Korea reportedly celebrated the “great timing” of the ICBM launch on the Fourth of July, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“The American bastards must be quite unhappy after closely watching our strategic decision,” Kim Jong Un was quoted as saying by the KCNA. “I guess they are not too happy with the gift package we sent them for the occasion of their Independence Day. We should often send them gift packages so they won’t be too bored.”

In addition to the North’s successful ICBM launch, the country might be ramping up its plutonium production in order to increase its weapons stockpile, according to a report released last week by U.S. think tank 38 North. The organization analyzed thermal imagery from the country and found that it had added additional plutonium and uranium at its main production facilities since September.

Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have escalated in recent months. The North warned earlier in July of an impending nuclear war if the U.S. did not immediately put a halt to joint military exercises with South Korea. The caution came after the U.S. flew two bombers over North Korea’s demilitarized zone.

Read: Japanese Government Tells Citizens How To Survive Nuclear Attack By North Korea

“A simple misjudgment or a mistake may lead to the outbreak of a nuclear war and that, in turn, is sure to start a new world war,” a commentary in the state’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmum said. “The U.S. saying it will regularly deploy strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula is the same as a crazy act of playing fire on top of an ammunitions locker.”