Pentagon spokesman, Lawrence DiRita, insisted the assessment by Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby before a Senate committee Thursday was not new and emphasized it was theoretical in nature.

"He has not made a new assessment. There is no new assessment of North Korea's capability in this regard," DiRita told reporters.

"In fact, he was speaking about a theoretical capability to combine missile types and a warhead such that you could have a theoretical ability to reach the United sTates as he described," he added.

Jacoby's remarks were believed to be the most explicit public statement to date on the question of whether North Korea has mastered the ability to make a nuclear warhead small enough to arm a long-range missile.

North Korea claimed in February to possess nuclear weapons.

Asked by Senator Hilary Clinton whether North Korea had the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear warhead, Jacoby responded:

"The assessment is that they have the capability to do that, yes, ma'am."

He said North Korea also had the ability to deploy a two-stage intercontinental missile that could successfully hit US territory.

The DIA later put out a statement that Jacoby was simply reiterating Senate testimony last month in which he said North Korea's Taepo Dong 2 intercontinental ballistic missile may be ready for testing.

"This missile could deliver a nuclear warhead to parts of the United States in a two stage variant and target all of North America with a three stage variant," he said in March 17 testimony.

DiRita suggested that the assessment was based on a worst-case scenario.

"Intelligence is a very difficult challenge for us in a society like North Korea which is closed, where they do a lot of their work underground. And so one makes the best assessment, but we know there is an awful lot we don't know," he said.

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