North Korea test-fires 7th missile

[bishop]

article

(CNN) -- North Korea test-fired a seventh missile Wednesday -- amid international furor over the regime's launch of six missiles just hours earlier. The Japanese Defense Agency said one ballistic missile was fired from southeastern North Korea around 5:20 p.m. (4:20 a.m. ET), landing in the Sea of Japan about 10 minutes later. The range of the missile has not been confirmed by CNN. However, Japanese news agencies said it was medium-range. The seventh test came after North Korea launched one long-range and five shorter-range missiles shortly after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday (2:30 p.m. Tuesday ET). Those tests lasted about five hours. But the closely-watched Taepodong-2 missile, which some analysts say is capable of hitting the western United States, failed after about 40 seconds and landed in the sea about 200 miles (321 kilometers) west of Japan, U.S. officials said. The short-range missiles also all landed in the Sea of Japan. The U.N. Security Council is planning to meet Wednesday morning to discuss North Korea's actions. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he was "urgently consulting" with other members of the 15-nation council. The United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia were quick to condemn the tests. North Korea's close ally China, which last week urged North Korea to refrain from missile tests, urged all parties to remain calm. U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley described the missile launches as "provocative behavior," but said they posted no immediate threat to the United States. President George W. Bush met with Hadley, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the tests were going on, a senior administration official said. But he went ahead with plans to watch Independence Day fireworks and hold a gathering at the White House for his 60th birthday, the official said. Hadley said Washington dispatched Christopher Hill to consult with U.S. allies in Asia after the tests. Hill has been the lead U.S. negotiator in six-party talks -- which includes the two Koreas, Japan, China and Russia -- aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. Meanwhile, the White House issued a statement saying the United States "strongly condemns" the launches and North Korea's "unwillingness to heed calls for restraint from the international community." "We are consulting with international partners on next steps," the statement said. "This provocative act violates a standing moratorium on missile tests to which the North had previously committed." The United States and Japan had urged Pyongyang to stick with the moratorium on long-range missile tests it declared in 1999, after it fired a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan in 1998. "We can now examine what the launches tell us about the intentions of North Korea," Hadley told reporters. Washington and North Korea's Asian neighbors have been trying to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear program since 2002. 'Hard-liners' A spokesman for South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said after a National Security Council meeting Wednesday that North Korea must take responsibility for events resulting from its firing of the missiles. "That has only served to strengthen the position of the hard-liners toward North Korea, will deepen the country's isolation and give an excuse for a military buildup in the region," said Roh spokesman Suh Ju-Suk. A Japanese foreign ministry press official, Akira Chiba, told CNN that Japan was studying "stern measures" and these would be announced shortly. Abe said Japan, which provides an extensive amount of food aid to North Korea, would respond to the tests with a strong protest. Japan has previously suggested it would withhold some of that aid or limit trade with Pyongyang if North Korea conducted a test. Shinzo Abe, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, said the test was a source of "grave concern." (Full story) Australian Prime Minister John Howard also called the tests "extremely provocative," according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "China has more influence on North Korea than any other country, and I hope that China uses that influence. And that is a view that I put in very strong terms to the Chinese premier when I raised this matter," Howard was quoted as saying. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, in a brief statement posted on the ministry's Web site, expressed concern over North Korea's missile tests and urged all parties to remain calm, The Associated Press reported. "We are seriously concerned with the situation which has already happened," he said. "We hope that all the relevant sides can remain calm and restrained and do more things which are conducive to peace and stability ... and not take any actions to escalate and complicate the situation." The statement was China's first response to North Korea's series of tests, AP said. Mark Fitzpatrick, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, told CNN: "We can assume that China is working behind the scenes to make sure North Korea doesn't makes any more provocative moves." He added that the tests were "a way for North Korea to show the world that it can't be pushed around without pushing back." Some analysts said the tests were also an effort by impoverished North Korea to redirect attention to the six-party talks. "North Korea's point here is that they have capabilities, growing capabilities, and that they should be taken in a very serious way," said Wendy Sherman, a former State Department official who held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il during the Clinton administration. Jim Walsh, a national security analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also said the tests appeared to be an attempt to focus on North Korean demands in the six-party negotiations. But Walsh said the tests "do not represent an immediate military threat to the United States."

[rmnunez]

Sounds like DPRK will fire some more missiles:

“Our military will continue with missile launch drills in the future as part of efforts to strengthen self-defense deterrent," said the statement, carried in state-run media. "If anyone intends to dispute or add pressure about this, we will have to take stronger physical actions in other forms." "As a sovereign country, this is our legal right and we are not bound by any international law or bilateral or multilateral agreements." http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/06/D8IMLM0O0.html

Just imagine what the reaction would be if Bush said something like this when discussing captives at Guantanamo or death penalty policy.

[rmnunez]

"Along with the establishment of a surveillance radar network, we want to work with the United States to build an interception mechanism as soon as possible," Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga told parliament, as quoted by Kyodo News. Japan is particularly sensitive to missile tests by North Korea, which in 1998 fired a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan into the Pacific, prompting Tokyo and Washington to step up cooperation to build missile defenses. Japan and the United States signed an agreement in late June to allow them to jointly develop an advanced capability missile interceptor for the ballistic missile defense system. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/0....ryp0fjku.html

You don’t suppose someone like Boeing or Lockheed secretely arranged the allegedly North Korean launch in order to spur sales to Japan?

[Boetie]

I'm too lazy right now to deep search this issue. And it's probably to premature right now anyways.

What I'm looking for is China's reaction to the testing. They probably don't even care. What they care about more is the collapse of North Korea's government.

Also South Korea's reaction would be good to look into. They probably don't care either, if anything they want to combine economic forces with the North.

And let's throw in Russia's thought on it as well.

I don't give a crap about Japan's or the United States thought on it. It's all to predictable.

Has anyone noticed the timing of the testing. In and around the fourth of July, not to mention in and around the annoucement of the United States selling Japan patriot, missles.

More than likely China will have more to say about the United States and Japans missile deal than about North Korea's missile testing.

[Dieval]

More news about the missile launce..

Quote by: article N. Korea missile aimed at area off Hawaii - report TOKYO (Reuters) - A North Korean missile launched on Wednesday was aimed at an area of the ocean close to Hawaii, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday. Experts estimated the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile to have a range of up to 6,000 km, putting Alaska within its reach. Wednesday's launch apparently failed shortly after take-off and the missile landed in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, a few hundred kilometres from the launch pad. But data from U.S. and Japanese Aegis radar-equipped destroyers and surveillance aircraft on the missile's angle of take-off and altitude indicated that it was heading for waters near Hawaii, the Sankei Shimbun reported, citing multiple sources in the United States and Japan. North Korea may have targeted Hawaii to show the United States that it was capable of landing a missile there, or because it is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific fleet, the paper said. An alternative explanation might be that a missile could accidentally hit land if fired towards Alaska, the report said. A separate report in the Mainichi Shimbun daily cited U.S. and Japanese government officials as saying a piece of the Taepodong-2 missile fell off immediately after take-off, strengthening the view that the launch was a failure.

[Samildanach]

This event scared the bejesus out of me actually. I had just bought the yen in anticipation of the BOJ announcement about an interest rate rise leading to a relative fall in the dollar and this particular geopolitical event along with the ADP employment report almost cost me about £7k. Luckily instead of jumping out I stayed in and caught the fall in the dollar today when I predicted that the previous ADP report was probably erroneous data as it was too far outside predictions to be reliable but it was pretty damn close there for a while. The dollar will fall for quite a while now. Euro and Yen are on the rise.

[rmnunez]

WWIII underway:

While it is often a war of loose or no affiliation, and sometimes just amateur copycats, the similar goals of destruction add up to a threat against modern society. Even the hapless wanna-bes busted in Miami ordered guns and military equipment from a man they thought was from Al Qaeda. Islamic fascists are the driving force, but anti-American hatred is a global membership card for any and all who have a grievance and a gun. I sound pessimistic because I am. Even worse than the problems is the fact that our political system is failing us. Democratic Party leaders want to pretend we can declare peace and everything will be fine, while President Bush is out of ideas. Witness Bush now counseling patience and diplomacy on North Korea. This from a man who scorned both for five years. http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...p-365242c.html

[Zeebadee]

More hypocrisy from our own government. I suppose they think that the world doesn't notice it.

"The Air Force successfully launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile early Thursday.

The Minuteman III dummy warheads were fired at 3:14 a.m. and traveled about 4,200 miles before hitting a water target in the Marshall Islands."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...07-20-08-49-31

[bishop]

of course, we would never threaten anyone with our missile tests, right?

:rolleyes:

[rmnunez]

Zee, track that Minuteman III's flight and let us know how many foreign countries found their airspace crossed.

[Zeebadee]

Quote by: rmnunez Zee, track that Minuteman III's flight and let us know how many foreign countries found their airspace crossed.

You're saying that it would be ok for N. Korea to build and test their missiles as long as they don't cross anyone else's airspace? Somehow, I don't think that's what bush has been getting at.

[rmnunez]

No, I'm saying its worse to test your missiles through someone else's airspace, its also worse when you aim them at another country and the territory they administer, something North Korea does each time they test their missiles. Bush (like me) doesn't want the North Koreans to test any missiles. Just above you analogized the North Korean missile tests with this recent US test of the Patriot III, which it is noted hit a target in the Marshall Island Trust territory. That is US administered territory and it is international airspace all the way from wherever they launched to the target.

[Zeebadee]

Quote by: rmnunez No, I'm saying its worse to test your missiles through someone else's airspace, its also worse when you aim them at another country and the territory they administer, something North Korea does each time they test their missiles. Bush (like me) doesn't want the North Koreans to test any missiles. Just above you analogized the North Korean missile tests with this recent US test of the Patriot III, which it is noted hit a target in the Marshall Island Trust territory. That is US administered territory and it is international airspace all the way from wherever they launched to the target.

What I said above is that it's hypocritical to try and tell another country not to test it's missiles while we go ahead and continue to test our own. If you had looked at the reported N. Korean test area, you'd see that their test violated no one else's airspace.