Chung actually seems giddy to be declaring that North Korea can strike the U.S. mainland with their ICBMs:
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has said North Korea is capable of hitting the U.S. mainland, apparently referring to the North’s recent development of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, in rare public remarks about Pyongyang’s weapons capability.
Chung made the remarks at a press conference in Berlin on Monday (local time) during his ongoing visit to Germany as South Korea’s representative to attend a ceremony marking German unification.
“North Korea has become one of the three countries capable of attacking the U.S. mainland,” Chung told reporters. “What needs to be acknowledged should be acknowledged rationally.”
You can read more at the link, but North Korea’s ICBMs are not fully tested yet with many questions about their reentry systems. Additionally even if they do work they would have to overcome U.S. missile defenses as well.
