North Korea ICBMs can strike US mainland, Pentagon official says

A senior U.S. defense official said North Korea has the capability to strike the U.S. mainland with intercontinental ballistic missiles, as Washington moves to overhaul its missile defense strategy to counter evolving threats.

Mark Berkowitz, a deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, made the assessment Tuesday during a hearing before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee. He said North Korea’s expanding nuclear and missile programs pose a “direct and growing threat” to the United States, its forces and its allies.

“North Korea’s theater-range missiles threaten the United States, South Korea and Japan, while its ICBMs are capable of reaching the U.S. homeland,” Berkowitz said in written testimony.

A recent U.S. National Defense Strategy report also described North Korea’s nuclear arsenal as posing a “clear and present danger” to the U.S. mainland.

Berkowitz identified China, Russia and Iran alongside North Korea as major strategic threats. He said China is rapidly expanding its nuclear and missile forces, including developing new ICBMs, hypersonic glide vehicles and advanced delivery systems.

During the hearing, Sen. Angus King asked about the scale of China’s missile and drone capabilities. Gen. Michael Guetlein, who oversees the missile defense initiative, said the number of potential attack systems ranges “from hundreds to tens of thousands,” depending on the threat type.

Berkowitz said Russia maintains a vast and diverse nuclear arsenal, as well as advanced missile and integrated air and missile defense capabilities, demonstrated in part through its operations in Ukraine. He added that Iran has developed significant missile and drone capabilities and has spread them to proxy forces and partners, including Russia.

The Pentagon official emphasized that current U.S. homeland missile defenses remain limited, particularly against emerging threats such as hypersonic weapons and advanced cruise missiles.

“At present, we rely on a ground-based, single-layer system designed primarily to counter limited threats from North Korea,” he said. “We do not yet have effective defenses against hypersonic or cruise missile threats.”

To address these gaps, the United States is advancing a new concept known as the “Golden Dome for America,” a multi-layered missile defense architecture integrating space- and ground-based systems.

The system is designed to counter a wide range of threats, including unmanned aerial systems, cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons and ballistic missiles launched from air or sea platforms.

It will use artificial intelligence-based command and control to connect sensors and interceptors across space and terrestrial domains. Space-based interceptors would target missiles during early and midcourse phases, while ground-based systems would engage threats in midcourse and terminal phases.

Officials said key investment areas include space-based tracking sensors for hypersonic and ballistic missiles, next-generation interceptors and glide-phase interception capabilities.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the initiative reflects a strategy that leverages U.S. strengths in innovation and advanced technology to defend the homeland.

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 12:56 PM.