Hagel Says North Korea’s Missiles Can’t Now Reach the U.S.

North Korea has acknowledged it is working on such a capability and has threatened to use it. U.S. missile defenses are positioned in the Pacific in anticipation of a possible North Korean missile launch in coming days.

Hagel was responding to a question at a House Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday. He said that while he does not believe North Korea or Iran has a long-range missile that can hit the U.S. with a weapon of mass destruction, he did not rule out that either country could eventually acquire such a capability.