American scientists: North Korean rocket could potentially hit half the U.S.

This is dandy news to wake up to. Remember how the Democrats and the media were all yukking it up when Bush included North Korea in his “Axis of Evil” List?

In other news, Obama is “deeply concerned.”

From YONHAP NEWS:

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) — The long-range rocket North Korea launched in April could be converted into a ballistic missile capable of striking half of the continental U.S., two American physicists have concluded in a joint study.

North Korea launched on April 5 what it claims was a rocket designed to carry a satellite into orbit. The U.S. and its allies say nothing entered orbit, calling the “Unha-2” rocket a disguised ballistic missile capable of flying over 6,700km.

South Korean and U.S. officials have refrained from elaborating on the capabilities of the rocket, while media reports said the rocket flew at least 3,000km before falling into the Pacific Ocean.

MIT professor Theodore Postol and David Wright, a physicist at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said the rocket could fly even farther — over 10,000km — if converted into a missile.

“The Unha launcher represents a significant advance over North Korea’s previous launchers and would have the capability to reach the continental United States with a payload of one ton or more if North Korea modified it for use as a ballistic missile,” they said.

“It could have a range of 10,000-10,500km, allowing it to reach Alaska, Hawaii, and roughly half of the lower 48 states,” they said in an article posted this week on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.