Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Friday that North Korea's missile launch was most likely planned in advance and was not a response to President Donald Trump's comments Thursday about the possibility of a "major, major conflict" with Pyongyang.
"This was probably something they had planned," Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, told Jake Tapper on CNN. "They could have slowed it down.
"But they seem to be pretty intent on developing the capability in both missile technology as well as nuclear technology.
"It's a real concern for anyone who knows about the possibilities of them linking a missile to a weaponized atomic device or nuclear device," he said.
North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile near Pyongyang, according to news reports, but it failed seconds after launching.
Trump slammed the move as "bad" on Twitter, saying that Pyongyang "disrespected the wishes of China" with the test.
The test was North Korea's ninth since Trump took office in January.
On Thursday, the president told Reuters that a chance existed "that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea," though he would prefer a diplomatic solution.
"The good news is, it didn't do very well," Kelly said of Pyongyang's latest effort.
He said that the responsibility has fallen on the Trump administration to stop North Korea's nuclear and ballistic objectives.
"They will, in my opinion, have a workable missile, ICBM-type missile that can hit the United States, not all of the United States, but hit the United States.
"They're working hard to develop a weapon to put on that missile.
"If we can predict when it's going to happen, then we need to stop it before they get to that point."
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