This month's rocket launch by North Korea shows it has likely developed the technology to fire a warhead more than 6,200 miles, South Korean officials said Sunday—putting the U.S. West Coast in range, according to Reuters. 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. South Korea retrieved and analyzed parts of the first-stage rocket that dropped in the waters off its west coast. Yet experts believe the North is still years away from mastering the technology needed to miniaturize a nuclear bomb to mount on a missile; and there is no confirmation whether the North has the re-entry technology needed for a payload to survive the heat and vibration without disintegrating.
