North Korea cannot strike U.S. with accuracy: Pentagon

Admitting that North Korea is capable in terms of 'range', the Pentagon, however, has asserted that Pyongyang is not currently able to land a missile on the US mainland with any degree of accuracy.

General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that North Korea has "clearly" demonstrated the capability to land a nuclear warhead on mainland US territory but cannot do it "with any degree of accuracy," reports Sputnik.

In an attempt to calm the fears of some lawmakers, Selva added, "I do agree in principle with the assessment that the North Koreans are moving quickly to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, but Pyongyang has not demonstrated the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success."

Following the July 4 launch of Pyongyang's first ICBM, Pentagon intelligence services suggest that the new long-range Hwasong-14 missile has inferior guidance controls and lacks the re-entry targeting technology required for weapon accuracy, Sputnik reports quoting American military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

The DPRK Hwasong-14 attained an altitude of some 1,550 miles, traveling downrange about 580 miles before plummeting into the sea between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Weapons experts have put the Hwasong-14's potential range at some 5,000 miles.

"On range they clearly have the capability," Selva said during his testimony to lawmakers.