North Korea's Rockets and Missile Threat Capability

North Korea's missile program is shrouded in secrecy, which helps the outlaw nation keep the rest of the world guessing.

But Western experts have learned a fair bit about Pyongyang's stable of rockets and missiles over the years by analyzing test flights, satellite photos and other data.

Soviet Origins:
The Hermit Kingdom's missile program is based primarily on Soviet Scuds, which apparently entered the country via Egypt in the 1970s.

North Korea was building its own Scud version, called the Hwasong-5, by the mid-1980s, and moved onto bigger and more powerful missiles after that.

Poor Accuracy:
North Korea's missiles have poor record of accuracy compared to those developed by the United States and other Western powers, experts say.

Pyongyang's Hwasong missiles, for example, can reach targets a few hundred miles away, but with an accuracy of just 0.3 miles to 0.6 miles (0.5 to 1 kilometer).

A missile called the Nodong (or Rodong -1 & -2) can fly 620 miles to 800 miles (1,000 to 1,300 km), but its estimated accuracy is even worse — 1.8 to 2.5 miles (3 to 4 km).

It is believed that these missiles can't reliably hit military targets, but they can certainly strike larger targets such as cities.

Cooperation with Iran:
North Korea has apparently cooperated extensively with fellow pariah nation Iran on rocket and missile technology.

For example, the third stage of Pyongyang's Unha-2 rocket is very similar to, and reported to be based on, the upper stage of Iran's Safir-2 launcher, physicists David Wright and Theodore Postol noted in a 2009 report.

Satellite Launch Success:
North Korea joined the ranks of satellite-launching nations last December, when its Unha-3 rocket launched a small satellite to Earth orbit.

This breakthrough came after three consecutive failures — one in 1998, one in 2009 and another in April 2012.

However, North Korean officials have never admitted to these mishaps, .

For example, they claimed that the Kwangmyongsong-1 ("Bright Star 1") satellite reached orbit in 1998 and then broadcasted patriotic songs into space but there is no evidence for this.

Nuclear Warheads Possible:
North Korea has been ratcheting up its bellicose rhetoric lately, threatening to launch nuclear strikes against Washington, D.C. and other American cities.

While the rogue nation's nuclear-weapons program is thought to be at a relatively primitive stage, Pyongyang may indeed already possess warheads small enough to be carried large distances by a ballistic missile, experts say. But the world have been misled by this kind of rhetoric in the past.

"Having something that's around 1,000 kilograms, or maybe somewhat smaller than that, unfortunately does not seem impossible," Wright reported.

"We don't really know, but I think you have to take seriously that they could well be there."

Most analysts doubt, however, that North Korean missiles are powerful enough to deliver a nuclear weapon to the American mainland.

The tough talk from Pyongyang is primarily bluster aimed at wringing concessions out of the international community and building support for young leader Kim Jong-Un at home, they say.

It also follows the blocking of international bank accounts for Kim Jon-Un and three of his senior generals.

These accounts are thought to contain $$billions belonging to the people of North Korea, allegedly.