The United States is prepared to intercept any North Korean long-range missile, a top U.S. military commander said, as Pyongyang further provoked the international community with at least four new missile launches on Thursday. “The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defense capability,” the chief of U.S. Northern Command, General Victor Renuart, told the Washington Times for an article published Thursday. “Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California … give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICMB (inter-continental ballistic missile), … I've got high confidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any U.S. territory,” Renuart was quoted as saying. The United States has said it is not ruling out the possibility of a North Korean long-range missile launch toward Hawaii on or around the July 4 U.S. Independence Day, although the Pentagon has expressed doubts that Pyongyang could fire a missile that far. But Renuart, who also commands the missile launch-monitoring U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), warned “we ought to assume there might be one … and continue to be prepared and ready.” Renuart's remarks came as South Korean military officials said Pyongyang test-fired four short-range missiles Thursday, further escalating tensions sparked by North Korea's recent nuclear test.
