Op-Ed: North Korea threatens US with its advance missiles

North Korea says mainland America is now within its missile range as tensions between North and South Korea tightens, the North warns US about its advance missiles following South deal. The North Korean threats could be designed to assess US response.

From the Daily Mail: Today, North Korea warned that mainland America is now within range of its most advanced missiles as it accused the U.S. of South Korean collaboration. This action comes when Seoul announced its deal with Washington, which allows it to significantly improve its missile range to better defend itself against North Korean nuclear threats. From BBC News: North Korea says it has missiles that can hit the US mainland, in a statement two days after South Korea unveiled a missile deal with the US. The statement said US bases in "Japan, Guam and the US mainland" were within its "scope of strike". It follows Seoul's announcement recently that it would improve its missile range system. Analysis For many years, Western analysts have been watching North Korea. However, the West knows very little about North Korea's nuclear weapons program and its missile capability. A few defense analysts assess that North Korea's program is far more advanced than the West realize. In the past, North Korea tested three underground nuclear blasts and it successfully fired a long range missile that could reach Hawaii. If North Korea can reach the US West Coast, then all it requires is a nuclear explosion 30 miles in altitude to inflict serious damage on the US war making capability in that region. This explosion would send out an EMP wave that would cook US computers and electronics in the West Coast region. The West Coast would instantly be set back to pre-Civil War conditions. Meanwhile, North Korea could employ short range nuclear missiles to destroy the US army in the South and US naval bases in Japan. While the likelihood of nuclear war with North Korea appears to be increasing, a few analysts assess that North Korea is just behaving like Goliath to evaluate the US response to its threats. This current trouble with North Korea is based on Obama’s perceived weakness and the current 2012 elections. If North Korea plans to attack South Korea, this would be the perfect time to strike.