Military analyst: Let’s hope U.S. Intelligence Community is awake after N. Korean threats

Let’s hope the actions taken by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un turn out to be nothing more than a show of false power. He couldn’t actually deliver on those threats, could he?

“They can deliver, CBS News Military Analyst Mike Lyons told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross. “Whether or not [a missile] can go very far remains to be seen.”

Related: N. Korea, on defense after sanctions, makes nuclear threat

Kim often makes similar threats during this time of year; the United State and South Korea are preparing for war games next week. The North claims the games are invasion preparations. However, threats with nuclear weapons aren’t always on the docket, Lyons said.

“I’d like to think our intel community is wide awake and watching everything it can to see what exactly is going on inside North Korea,” Lyons said. “Because this is one individual that has both the capability and means to threaten the world with a nuclear weapon.”

The threat from Kim follow the recent adoption of harsher U.N. sanctions over recent nuclear tests conducted by North Korea. Kim responded by firing short-range projectiles into the sea Thursday.

There’s a little relief, though, right? The U.S. sent a carrier group over. Do we at least have the capability to take down a missile, Dave wondered.

“Not in that general vicinity,” Lyons responded. “Depending on where it is launched to we have some capability, but right now, all we have is a show of force.

“We’d like to think and say we can do that, but there’s nothing that I know of that is able to take it down.”

Lyons said if a missile is launched there’s a chance South Korea and the U.S. would retaliate, depending on where it landed. South Korean soldiers have been killed in the past by these missile tests, he added; but the two countries were able to work things through without escalating the violence.

“[Kim Jong-un] seems to know where that line is and gets right up to that line, but hasn’t crossed it yet,” Lyons said.