But General Paul Selva, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the July 4th test stopped short of showing North Korea had “the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success.” 
 
 Pyongyang’s state media said the test successfully verified the atmospheric re-entry of the warhead, which experts say may be able to reach the U.S. state of Alaska. AFP/Getty Images 
 
 "Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement following the test earlier this month.
– When it comes to North Korea's ability to hit the the US with a nuclear warhead, there's good news and bad news. Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that North Korea "clearly" has missiles that can reach the US, ABC News reports. Selva said the ICBM tested by North Korea on the Fourth of July could reach Alaska. But, according to Reuters, Selva added that North Korea doesn't yet have the missile re-entry and guidance technology to hit a US target with "any degree of accuracy" or to have any "reasonable confidence of success" in the strike. Selva told the Armed Services Committee that while "we have to entertain" the possibility of a preemptive military strike against North Korea, the US also needs "to think seriously about what the consequences of that action might be." The Washington Post reports a poll conducted shortly after North Korea's July 4 missile test found 74% of Americans are concerned about a full-scale war with the country. And only 36% of poll respondents have "a good amount" of confidence in President Trump to handle the situation with North Korea.