The Detroit Free-Press has a helpful FAQ on Iran and North Korea with one significant factual error:

Q: Is the United States threatened by a North Korean weapon?

A: Yes. North Korea has missiles that could hit Alaska and Hawaii. Japan feels threatened and might be tempted to build its own nuclear weapons if it doubted the U.S. resolve to defend it.

No. North Korea is developing missiles that could hit Alaska and Hawaii, but does not have them … yet.

The 1,300-km-range No Dong (what a name!) remains the longest-range ballistic missile North Korea has deployed. The No Dong is capable of hitting targets in Northeast Asia, but not Alaska and Hawaii (see below).

North Korea is also developing a longer range missile, the Taepo Dong.

  • The Taepo Dong 2 is a two-stage ballistic missile configuration could deliver a several-hundred kilogram payload up to 10,000 km—sufficient to strike Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the continental United States. The missile has not been flight tested, although South Korean newspapers reported engine tests in May.
  • North Korea flight tested the Taepo Dong 1 (above right) in August 1998, but this was largely a stunt—North Korea used an unanticipated three stage configuration that reduced the missile’s payload to the point that it could not deliver a militarily significant payload. (See also, Bradley Graham’s Hit to Kill 2001, 52-65).

The question of whether North Korea has, or is still developing, ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States is important: North Korea continues to abide by a September 2002 offer of extension regarding the voluntary moratorium on flight tests observed since in 1998.

Here is some basic information about North Korea’s ballistic missiles from the National Air and Space Intelligence Center’s Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat:

Missiles Stages Propellant Deployment Max. Range (mi) No. of Launchers
No Dong 1 Liquid Road-mobile 800 Fewer than 50
Taepo Dong 1 2 Liquid Undetermined 1,250+ Not yet deployed
Taepo Dong 2 2 Liquid Undetermined 3,400+ Not yet deployed