In 2006, Ashton Carter called for blowing up a N. Korean missile on the launch pad
At the time, I wasn’t especially enthusiastic about the idea, and I’m still not enthusiastic about it today, but had I known then that George W. Bush and Barack Obama would let things get to where they’ve gotten today, I might have agreed with the idea of an aerial intercept.
One thing we know about Ashton Carter is that he talks a good game.
See http://www.northkoreanrefugees.com/2008-01-kwon.htm