South Korea says North's rocket could reach US  Updated December
24, 2012 07:37:51  The South Korean Defence Ministry says North
Korea's recent rocket launch amounted to the test of a ballistic
missile capable of carrying a half-tonne payload over 10,000
kilometres - far enough to reach the United States.  North Korea
launched its three-stage rocket on December 12, saying it was a
purely scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite in space.
The South Korean estimate is based on analysis of debris
recovered from the rocket's first-stage splashdown site.  But
without any debris from the second and third stages to analyse,
a ministry official says it can't be determined if the rocket
had re-entry capability - a key element of inter-continental
ballistic missile technology.      'Bigger rockets'  North
Korea's previous missile tests have ended in failure.  The
country has spent decades and scarce resources to try to develop
technology capable of striking targets as far away as the US,
and it is also working