Could A North Korean Missile Reach Hawaii?

From The Christian Science Monitor:

North Koreans on Thursday tested several short-range missiles, but their track record on longer-range missile technology has been poor.

Washington - Could North Korea hit Hawaii with a missile, if it wanted to?

In theory, yes. Pyongyang has ballistic missile technology that technically, if it worked to perfection, could throw a small payload across the 7,100 kilometers or so that separate the Korean peninsula from Honolulu, according to a US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

But North Korea has tested its most advanced long-range missiles only a few times, and in each instance, something major has gone wrong. The warhead would be so tiny it would do little damage – if it survived the heat of reentry, which is doubtful. (It wouldn't be nuclear. North Korea remains years from developing that kind of capability.)

Accuracy would be problematic. The missile would be as likely to hit ocean as land.

Bottom line: For the moment, the chance of North Korea endangering Hawaii, or any other US territory, may be quite small.

Read more ....

My Comment: I personally am very skeptical that they can develop and engineer a missile that can hit targets thousands of kilometers away. Their track record is less than stellar, and the resources that they have to develop such a weapon system is dubious at best.

The only value that such a missile will have is a propaganda one .... and this the North Koreans have been masters at.

What our concern should be focused on is their short range missiles. This is a technology that they have developed, and a strike on our Japanese or South Korean allies will have an impact just as much as a strike against Hawaii or the U.S. mainland.

As for the U.S. scampering to positioning their anti-missile defense systems around Hawaii .... this is Washington political theatrics at its worse.