Lindsey Graham said “time is running out” before an all-out military conflict with the despot Kim Jong-un’s hermit kingdom.
Pyongyang is developing a new weapon with the combined technology of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and a nuclear weapon which could wipe out the US with one strike, he told CBS.
The Republican said: “We’re getting close to military conflict because North Korea is marching towards marrying up the technology of an ICBM with a nuclear weapon on top that can not only get to America, but deliver the weapon.”
On Wednesday, North Korea tested a new type of ICBM that can fly over 13,000 km (8,080 miles), placing Washington within target range, South Korea said on Friday.
Mr Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, cautioned that this development showed conflict is approaching.
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He also urged the Pentagon to relocate US military dependants, such as spouses and children, out of South Korea.
He said: “It’s crazy to send spouses and children to South Korea given the provocation of North Korea.
“So I want them to stop sending dependents and I think it’s now time to start moving American dependents out of South Korea.”
The US has 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The Pentagon referred questions to the Pacific command, which was not immediately available for comment, according to Reuters.
South Korean officials reported that the brutal regime could have a “viable” arsenal of nuclear missiles ready by Summer 2018.
White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster told Fox News that US President Donald Trump is prepared to take action against North Korea but is working to convince China, Russia and other nations to use more economic pressure to help curb its nuclear ambitions.
Mr McMaster said: “The president’s going to take care of it by, if we have to, doing more ourselves. But what we want to do is convince others, it is in their interest to do more.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly said all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear weapons programs, including military ones, but that it still prefers a diplomatic option.