Assessing the North Korean Threat

In the weeks leading up to the Independence Day holiday, the press was buzzing with word that North Korea was planning to fire missiles at Hawaii. A few of the less inform reports also cited the North’s budding nuclear capabilities, implying through a thin veneer that North Korea intended to nuke Hawaii. This even went so far as to have President Obama publicly state that they would shoot down any rocket headed towards the island state, and leaders of the US Navy state that they had assets in place to take the shot.