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July 4, 2006
North Korea Defies West And Launches Six Missiles, Including Taepodong 2
Topics: North KoreaNorth Korea has test-fired a number of missiles in quick succession, one of which was a long-range weapon which failed seconds into flight.We have North Korea defying the West and launching missles, and blowing it. However, you can bet your last dollar that Iran is watching how the international community, and especially the U.S., responds.
CNN is reporting that a senior U.S. State Department official said the launches were timed to coincide with the launch of the space shuttle Discovery from Florida, calling it "a provocative act designed to get attention." If that's the case, then besides angering the U.S., Japan, and other Western countries, the only thing the was demonstrate their ineptitude on the very day that the U.S. successfully launches a space shuttle, and North Korea's missile has failed on its own, without the U.S. having to knock it down.
US officials said the North Korean military first fired two Scud-type short-range missiles that landed in the Sea of Japan and later the Taepodong 2 that "failed early in flight." More launches were believed possible. The US missile defense system, based in California, Alaska and onboard US Navy ships, was on high alert in anticipation of the Taepodong 2 test, and ready to shoot any missile down if it threatened US territory.
The international reaction is be summed-up by Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who told reporters the missiles landed in the Sea of Japan several hundred kilometers (miles) from the coast of Japan, saying that "Today's launches were done despite advance warning by the relevant countries. This is a grave problem in terms of peace and stability not only of Japan but also of international society. ... This is a grave problem in terms of peace and stability not only of Japan but also of international society."
Captain Ed writes that the failure is a huge embarrassment to the Kim regime, and it appears clear that while Pyongyang continues to build missiles, they don't build them particularly well -- and the billions of dollars spent in development has gone up in smoke, or down in the Sea of Japan, as it were.
North Korea's missile program is based on Scud technology provided by the former Soviet Union or Egypt, according to American and South Korean officials. North Korea started its Rodong-1 missile project in the late 1980s and test-fired the missile for the first time in 1993.
From Tony Snow's press briefing on the launch: "In doing this, the North Koreans have once again isolated themselves. They have defied their neighbors who urged them not to have a launch. The South Koreans, the Japanese and the Chinese all have asked them not to do it. The United States now will work with the other parties in the six-party talks to figure out the appropriate way to move forward. But I think it's fair to say that this is a further indication of isolation on the part of the North Koreans. And it also reminds everybody about the nature of the regime. So that is kind of where we're going. (
Related:
A Look at North Korea's Missile Arsenal
In quotes: N Korea missile reaction
Posted by Richard at July 4, 2006 8:09 PM
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