Can North Korea Actually Hit the U.S. With a Nuclear Missile?

North Korea's stated goal is to develop a nuclear-armed ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. This is not just the whim of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un — it is, in fact, part of his family legacy. In 2011, Kim Jong Un’s father, former regime leader Kim Jong Il, said his nation’s “nuclear deterrent [was] to protect our sovereignty from the blatant nuclear threat of the United States and its increasingly hostile policy.