Secretary Of Homeland Security Warns U.S. At ‘Grave Risk’ If North Korea Gets A Working Missile

On Sunday the Department of Homeland Security’s Secretary John Kelly issued words of warning about North Korea’s missile tests and said that the United States is at “grave risk” if North Korea develops the capability to reach the continental U.S. with one of their missiles, and particularly if there is a nuclear weapon attached to that missile.

When Kelly was speaking on CNN’s State of the Nation, he was asked by the host if he was worried about North Korea striking the United States or whether he felt that America is actually safe from missile strikes, whether from North Korea or other countries. The Secretary of Homeland Security maintained that while other countries have nuclear weapons which could be considered worrisome, like Russia, that it is North Korea that the United States should be most wary of.

“Clearly, there are countries on the planet that have a lot of nuclear weapons that would overwhelm any defense that we would deploy—Russia, as an example. But the minute, I would tell you, Dana, the minute North Korea gets a missile that could reach the United States and put a weapon on that missile, a nuclear weapon, the instant that happens, this country is at grave risk.”

As America may be at such risk from working weapons from North Korea, John Kelly was asked how far away it may be before North Korea develops missiles which can reach the continental United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security replied that he believed this could very well become a great concern before the next four years is up, as the Blaze reported.

“I think Mr. Trump will be dealing with this in real terms before he starts his second term.”

The Department of Homeland Security appears to be extremely concerned with what they perceive as a very real and potential future threat, and this has not been helped by propaganda from North Korean newspapers such as the government newspaper Rodong Sinmun, which last Thursday claimed that if America were to launch a preemptive strike at their country, they would respond in kind by destroying the United States and leaving it in ashes.

“In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists’ invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes.”

Sec. John Kelly: The minute North Korea gets a missile that could reach the US, the country is at “grave risk” https://t.co/LbghVKS0fr

— CNN (@CNN) April 23, 2017

North Korea is very keen on propaganda and threats of destroying the United States, and the American government is taking these threats very seriously. One of their most recent works of propaganda includes a video in which there was a simulation of San Francisco being completely obliterated by a North Korean missile, as the Inquisitr recently reported. Along with the video of San Franciso being demolished, there was a full orchestra to add to the spectacle. When the video had finished, the assembled crowd broke into applause.

“When the performance was over, all the performers and participants in the military parade broke into enthusiastic cheers of ‘hurrah!'”

If North Korea does end up developing a working missile system which could strike the continental United States, how good is America’s defense system? The Pentagon has spent $40 billion to protect the U.S. from these sorts of attacks with their Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, otherwise known as GMD. The GMD was designed so that America could be protected from nuclear strikes from Iran and North Korea, but there are lingering questions as to just how well this system works, as the Los Angeles Times reports.

The GMD is designed for the sole purpose of protecting the United States from limited missile attacks. However, if there was ever a full-scale attack from countries like Russia or China, the GMD would be unable to protect America. But if there were just a small number of missiles the GMD should, in theory at least, be able to intercept these missiles. There are currently 37 interceptors in the U.S. that could be used in the event of a small missile attack by North Korea, but it would be extremely tricky to be able to do this, and it may or may not work. This is because stopping a warhead while it is traveling at hypersonic speed presents some serious challenges. It is akin to taking one speeding bullet and trying to use another one to hit it.

The GMD has been tested since 2004 in nine simulated attacks, but it has worryingly failed to hit its target six times out of nine. This is especially troubling as if the GMD failed with only simulated attacks, how well would it work in a real situation if North Korea had a working missile system which could reach the United States?

With the Department of Homeland Security’s Secretary John Kelly suggesting that the United States would be in “grave danger” if North Korea develops missiles that could hit America, do you think there is cause for concern?

[Featured Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Images]