North Korea has an untested ballistic missile capable of reaching the western United States, intelligence officials have claimed.
The missile is a three-stage version of the Taepo Dong 2, said Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency.
It has not been flight-tested, Vice Adm Jacoby said.
CIA Director Mr George Tenet, who joined Vice Adm Jacoby in briefing the Senate Armed Services Committee, also acknowledged the North Koreans have the capability to reach the western United States with a long-range missile.
Previous US intelligence reports have said such a missile probably could carry a nuclear weapon-sized payload across the Pacific Ocean.
South Korea has called on the North to exploit the opportunity created by the United Nations' involvement in the nuclear stand-off involving the two states and the United States.
The governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declared North Korea in breach of atomic safeguards yesterday, in a ruling which automatically referred the matter to the 15-nation UN Security Council.
The council has the power to impose economic sanctions which the North Koreans say would amount to a declaration of war. The country has warned it will launch pre-emptive action if it feels threatened.