Could North Korea Hit The U.S. With A Nuclear Ballistic Missile?

Could North Korea Nuke Washington? -- New Republic

North Korea, in advance of a unanimous United Nations Security Council vote to sanction the country for last month's underground nuclear weapons test, today threatened to pre-emptively nuke Washington. Pyongyang has long been known for its provocations, but this one is scary enough to warrant asking: Could they pull it off?

The Stalinist state doesn't have that capability—yet. North Korea has built a long-range ballistic missile, the Taepeodong 2 (TD-2), which could hit the West Coast of the United States. That is, if it worked. The last TD-2 test was in 2006; it failed in 42 seconds. North Korea's longest-range ballistic missile that works, the Musudan, has a range of only 2,500 miles—not nearly far enough to hit the continental United States, some 5,600 miles away, or even Hawaii, 4,800 miles away.

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My Comment: For the moment the consensus is that they are not capable of achieving such a missile strike. But the consensus is also of the opinion that the North Koreans are working hard to achieve such a capability. For more info on North Korea's ability (or inability) to hit the U.S. with a nuclear ballistic missile, go here.