North Korea's extended-range Scud missiles are capable of reaching the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, a Seoul daily reported Tuesday.
"We previously assumed the Scud-ER, a modified version of the Scud-C, could fly about 700 km. But our joint assessment with U.S. intelligence indicates that it can fly more than 1,000 km," a senior South Korean military official told the JoongAng Ilbo.
If launched from a frontline unit on a mobile launchpad, the Scud-ER, also known as the Hwasong-7, could hit the Yokosuka Naval Base to prevent deployment of U.S. 7th Fleet assets based there to the Korean Peninsula, the report said.
Yokosuka is the largest strategically important U.S. naval installation in the Western Pacific.
According to the Defense Ministry's latest white paper, North Korea has managed to extend the range of the Scud-ER by extending the body of the ballistic missile while reducing the weight of its warhead, among other factors.
"The range of a Scud ER is estimated to reach 1,000 km, and it is possible that a part of Japan falls within this range," it says.
North Korea also has longer-range ballistic missiles that can reach all or almost all of Japan, such as the Rodong, Taepodong-1, Taepodong-2 and Musudan missiles.
The JoongAng Ilbo report said the prospect of North Korea having Scud-ERs with such a capability is yet another headache for allies in the region as they consider missile defense systems.