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An image of North Korea test launching its Hwasong-15 ICBM published by the Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 29, 2017. (KCNA/Yonhap News)

Lt. Gen Daniel Karbler, who heads up the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said on Aug. 4 that the US has “to treat every missile that comes out of North Korea as the highest consequence threat.”

Voice of America (VOA) reported that Karbler made the comments during a space and missile defense symposium on Tuesday. He’d been asked about the claim that North Korea has succeeded at miniaturizing nuclear warheads, which appeared in a UN report the previous day.

Karbler explained that the US has “a hard time determining what’s on every warhead,” which is why the US needs to train its forces to have the highest capability in missile defense and interception.

On Aug. 3, Reuters quoted a report from an expert panel under the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea. In the report, various countries concluded that North Korea had “probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles.”

In a keynote speech at the same symposium that day, Adm. Charles Richard, commander of US Strategic Command, said North Korea was continuing to pursue illegal nuclear weapons and improve its missile system. He also said that the capabilities threatened the alliance and troops in the region, while intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing over the past few years could pose a threat to the continental US.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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