How far is North Korea from being able to hit the U.S. with a nuke?

Pyongyang unleashes fresh threats against Washington and South Korea over toughening U.N. sanctions. Should we be worried?

Glyn Davies, U.S. envoy for the North Korean nuclear dispute
(Image credit: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)

North Korea is shaking its fist at the world yet again this week.

Pyongyang is angry at the United Nations for toughening sanctions as punishment for the Hermit Kingdom's launching a long-range missile to carry a satellite into orbit in December. And on Friday, North Korea threatened to attack its democratic neighbor, South Korea, if it goes along with the measures approved by the U.N. Security Council. Also this week, North Korea vowed to test a nuclear device and fire more test missiles toward the U.S., which it called the "sworn enemy" of the Korean people. Such saber rattling is nothing new, but now even longtime ally China is threatening to cut back its aid if North Korea's isolated communist regime goes through with new nuclear tests. How seriously should Americans take Pyongyang's threats to fire a nuke our way? Here's what you should know:

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.