Amid reports that North Korea has loaded two road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles on trucks and could be preparing a test, the Pentagon says it’s ready if North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un orders a launch during the inaugural festivities in Washington.
“What I can tell you is that the preparations made by this department, under this secretary of defense, to ensure that the next administration has everything it needs to hit the ground running at 12:01, has been done,” said Peter Cook, outgoing Pentagon press secretary.
South Korea military officials say they have detected two missiles, presumed to be prototype ICBMs, on mobile launchers poised for test-firing in the near future, and that it appears the North may have intentionally leaked word of the missiles to send a message to the incoming Trump administration.
Recently, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. would shoot down any missile that threatened either the United States or its allies. But as of noon Friday, it would be up to Trump to decide whether to order the shoot-down.
The Navy has deployed a high-tech sea-based X-band radar system to the western part of the Pacific Ocean to monitor the trajectory of any North Korean test flight.
And the U.S. has ship-based interceptor missiles in the Pacific, as well as land-based missiles to protect the U.S. mainland, that could be used to take down an ICBM.
When Kim said in a New Year’s address that his country was in the “final stages” of developing an ICBM, Trump responded with a tweet two days later vowing, “It won’t happen.”
Without confirming North Korea’s deployment of missiles, or mentioning the country by name, Cook had a message for any potential adversary who might think the transition period would be a good time to challenge the U.S.
“That would be a mistake. That would be a miscalculation,” he said.
