Yonhap News

The United States has a strong and “very effective” homeland defense system against North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Pentagon’s No. 2 officer has said.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten made the remark during a discussion with the Hudson Institute think tank, which was prerecorded and aired on Wednesday.

“I think our homeland missile defense with respect to Korea is strong, with respect to North Korea,” he said. “The interceptors we have, mostly in Alaska, but also at Vandenberg, are very effective against that threat.” He was referring to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Hyten continued to say, however, that the missile defense capabilities need to be modernized to respond to evolving threats around the world.

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