Watch: Secretary of homeland security issues dire warning about North Korea nuclear missile strike

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly delivered on Sunday an urgent warning about the potential threat of a nuclear missile strike from North Korea.

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Dana Bash asked whether Kelly felt the “homeland is safe from a North Korean missile or any other coming toward the continental U.S.”

“Clearly, there are countries on the planet that have a lot of nuclear weapons that would overwhelm any defense that we would deploy—Russia, as an example,” Kelly said. “But the minute, I would tell you, Dana, the minute North Korea gets a missile that could reach the United States and put a weapon on that missile, a nuclear weapon, the instant that happens, this country is at grave risk.”

“How far away do you think that is?” asked Bash.

“I think Mr. Trump will be dealing with this in real terms before he starts his second term,” Kelly responded.

It’s unclear exactly what “real terms” means, but it’s clear from Kelly’s statement the Trump administration is gravely concerned about the possibility of a nuclear attack by North Korea once the nation acquires the technology to launch such a strike.

On Thursday, Reuters reported a North Korean government newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, announced, “In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists’ invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes.”

On April 17, The Blaze reported the deputy United Nations ambassador for North Korea, Kim In Ryong, told the U.N. assembly the United States’ presence in the Korean peninsula has created “a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any minute.”