North Korea Tests a Ballistic Missile That Experts Say Could Hit California
"With this missile, North Korea leaves no doubt that its missile has a range
that covers most of the United States." The United States has gone to extraordinary lengths to slow North Korea’s missile testing program — feeding flawed parts into the North Korean production system and attacking the missile program in cyberspace to cause test failures.
North Korea conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, on July 4, calling it a "gift package for the Yankees." South Korean officials have said
that the July 4 test demonstrated that the missile was capable of reaching Alaska, but that it remained unclear whether the North had mastered all technologies needed to deliver a nuclear warhead to targets in the continental United States.
By DAVID E. SANGER, CHOE SANG-HUN and WILLIAM J. BROADJULY 28, 2017
North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday that, for the first time, appeared capable of reaching the West Coast of the United States, according to experts — a milestone
that American presidents have long declared the United States could not tolerate.
Kim said that Depending on how heavy a warhead it carries, this latest North Korean missile would
easily reach the West Coast of the United States with a range of 9,000 to 10,000 kilometers,
The North Korean missile test came a day after the United States Senate passed sanctions aimed at deterring North Korea’s missile
and nuclear development, as part of a package that also targets Russia and Iran.
South Korean defense officials have said since the July 4 test
that it was too early to determine whether North Korea had mastered long-range missile technology, especially re-entry, when a warhead section must survive intense heat and the destruction of its outer shell as it plunges from space through the earth’s atmosphere.