North Korea could have U.S. within missile range, says South [View all]

[UnrepentantLiberal]

Source: Reuters

SEOUL - North Korea's rocket launch this month showed it has likely developed technology, long suspected in the West, to fire a warhead more than 10,000 kilometers, South Korean military officials said on Sunday, putting the U.S. West Coast in range.

North Korea said the December 12 launch put a weather satellite in orbit but critics say it was aimed at nurturing the kind of technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.

North Korea is banned from testing missile or nuclear technology under U.N. sanctions imposed after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear weapons tests and the U.N. Security Council condemned the launch.

South Korea retrieved and analyzed parts of the first-stage rocket that dropped in the waters off its west coast.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/23/us-korea-north-missile-idUSBRE8BM01720121223