US to boost nuclear missile defences

The US plans to bolster its missile defences on the west coast to counter the threat from North Korea, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has announced.

He said the US would add 14 interceptors, which can shoot down missiles in flight, to 30 already in place in California and Alaska by 2017.

But the final phase of the US European Missile Defence programme is being scrapped to partly fund the project.

James Kelly reports.