South Korea says North's rocket could reach US

Updated December 24, 2012 07:37:51

The South Korean Defence Ministry says North Korea's recent rocket launch amounted to the test of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a half-tonne payload over 10,000 kilometres - far enough to reach the United States.

North Korea launched its three-stage rocket on December 12, saying it was a purely scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite in space.

The South Korean estimate is based on analysis of debris recovered from the rocket's first-stage splashdown site.

But without any debris from the second and third stages to analyse, a ministry official says it can't be determined if the rocket had re-entry capability - a key element of inter-continental ballistic missile technology.





'Bigger rockets'

North Korea's previous missile tests have ended in failure.

The country has spent decades and scarce resources to try to develop technology capable of striking targets as far away as the US, and it is also working to build a nuclear arsenal.


Despite international condemnation, this month's launch was seen as a major boost domestically to the credibility of the North's leader Kim Jong-Un, who took over power from his father who died last year.

Apparently encouraged by the euphoria, Kim Jong-Un called for the development of "a variety of more working satellites" and "carrier rockets of bigger capacity" at a banquet in Pyongyang on Friday, according to North Korean state media.


Topics: science-and-technology, world-politics, space-exploration, korea-democratic-people-s-republic-of, asia

First posted December 22, 2012 19:56:56