US missile defense ‘clearly focused’ on North Korea: Gen. Hyten
The United States’ missile defense capability is “clearly” focused on North Korea and must continue to advance to meet evolving threats from the country, the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.
Gen. John Hyten argued the North poses one of the most immediate threats to the U.S. in that the country has a real potential of using its weapons against the U.S.
“Our national missile defense capability is clearly focused on North Korea right now, not on China, Russia and Iran,” the Air Force general told a webinar hosted by a Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic International Studies.
“We are starting to look hard at Iran because Iran continues to build missiles in a significant way and we have to be able to respond to that,” he added.
Still, Hyten underlined the need to continue maintaining and developing defense capabilities against North Korea.
“Without going into the classified details…I’ll just say…go and look at the video of the North Korean parade, and you will just see different missiles coming through on that parade,” he said.
North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing since November 2017.
However, the North unveiled its latest and largest intercontinental ballistic missile in a military parade staged in October that marked the 75th founding anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party.
The North also unveiled a submarine-launched ballistic missile last month.
“So North Korea is continuing to move forward in their capabilities, which means on the defensive side, we have to continue to move forward as well,” Hyten said.
The U.S. general noted the challenge posed by North Korea is the same as those presented by others throughout history.
“This is the same problem you have with any adversary in the history of military conflict. One side makes a move, the other side makes a move, and the goal is to stay ahead of your adversary,” he told the virtual seminar.