Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey said Tuesday the White House should expect North Korea to have a "significant nuclear capability" to strike the United States in five years.
Until then, the concern with Pyongyang will likely center around missed calculations, "in which [Kim Jong Un] fires 1,000 rounds into South Korea because the economic sanctions are working," McCaffrey told Katy Tur on "MSNBC Live."
"And then what do we do? That's the problem, and we're right on the verge of it."
North Korea vowed Monday to strengthen its nuclear arsenal and "make the U.S. pay a thousand-fold" in response to tough U.N. sanctions imposed following the country's recent test-launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The ICBM's were fired at highly lofted angles, and analysts said they could reach parts of the U.S. if fired at a normal, flattened trajectory.
The Trump administration should approach North Korea and warn leader Kim of disastrous consequences, McCaffrey said.
"I think what the United States is going to have to do is to tell them privately, if you employ these weapons, if you strike vigorously against Seoul, our only real military option is to go nuclear," he said. "And that would be a tragedy for the global community. But we do that before we would accept a strike on Japan, South Korea, or the United States."
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