Maybe it can. Maybe it can't

North Korea rocket 'has 10,000km range'

This headline from BBC doesn't really explain what the technological know how and achievement needed to construct an intercontinental missiles even at its most basic level.  So, why the need for a scaremongering headline?

Yes, North Korea believes that in becoming a  credible it will achieve equal status among nations but wishing to become such a power and accomplishing that goal are two very different things. A great deal of scientific and technological knowledge is required before a nation state can begin the process of placing a nuclear warhead on a missile.  Neither of which the North Koreans seem to have.  

North Korea may or may not have rocket that can reach America's west coast but what else does it have?  Not much other than bluster.

North Korea's recent rocket launch shows it has the ability to fire a rocket more than 10,000km (6,200 miles), South Korean officials say.

The estimate, which would potentially put the Western US in range, was based on an analysis of rocket debris.

However, there was no confirmation that the North had the re-entry technology needed to deliver a missile.

Experts believe North Korea is also years away from gaining the ability to mount a nuclear bomb on a missile.

North Korea launched the Unha-3 rocket on 12 December, in defiance of sanctions and international warnings.

'Crude'

The official said the type of oxidiser container that was found from the first stage of the rocket launch would rarely be used by countries with advanced space technology.

"Welding was crude, done manually," the official said.

South Korea would not be able to tell whether the North had the technology to achieve re-entry until debris from the second and third stages of the rocket launch was analysed, the defence ministry said.