Nuclear Attack | featured news

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to announce Friday afternoon that the Pentagon will enhance the nation's ability to defend itself from a nuclear attack by North Korea, a U.S. defense official told CNN.

North Korea has plenty of military firepower even if its threat this week of a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States is a hollow one, with South Korea most at risk from the isolated regime's artillery and rockets.

The White House says the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself after a North Korean ballistic missile attack. White House spokesman Jay Carney was responding to the North's vow to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the U.S. That threat came in retaliation for tough new U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

South Korea's defense chief called Wednesday for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea if there is a clear indication the country is preparing a nuclear attack....