North Korea Tests a Ballistic Missile That Experts Say Could Hit California<br />"With this missile, North Korea leaves no doubt that its missile has a range<br />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.<br />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<br />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.<br />By DAVID E. SANGER, CHOE SANG-HUN and WILLIAM J. BROADJULY 28, 2017<br />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<br />that American presidents have long declared the United States could not tolerate.<br />Kim said that Depending on how heavy a warhead it carries, this latest North Korean missile would<br />easily reach the West Coast of the United States with a range of 9,000 to 10,000 kilometers,<br />The North Korean missile test came a day after the United States Senate passed sanctions aimed at deterring North Korea’s missile<br />and nuclear development, as part of a package that also targets Russia and Iran.<br />South Korean defense officials have said since the July 4 test<br />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.
