Missile Test & U.S. Response to N. Korea

[J. J.]

Two more, possibly small, launched.  One might have been another TD-2.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The Sea of Japan had better surrender soon.

[J. J.]

The Sea of Japan had better surrender soon.

Until they get one that works; whose dorm room is it aimed at?

[riceowl]

I'm going to assume that these 2 fighter jets that keep circling over here have nothing to do with this and are part of some 7/4 celebration...

[J. J.]

I'm going to assume that these 2 fighter jets that keep circling over here have nothing to do with this and are part of some 7/4 celebration...

Air trafic was diverted here; I saw some low flying commercial aircraft.  Where is POTUS/VPOTUS at?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I'm going to assume that these 2 fighter jets that keep circling over here have nothing to do with this and are part of some 7/4 celebration...

Since I don't think either of the ICBM's can reach TX, probably.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

USA Today article: North Korea test-launches long-range missile despite U.S. warnings

North Korea test-launches long-range missile despite U.S. warnings

TOKYO (AP) — A defiant North Korea test-fired a long-range missile Wednesday that may be capable of reaching America, but it failed seconds after launch, U.S. officials said. The North also tested four of shorter range in an exercise the White House termed "a provocation" but not an immediate threat.
Ignoring stern U.S. and Japanese warnings, the isolated communist nation carried out the audacious military tests even as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle.

None of the missiles made it as far as Japan, all crashing into the Sea of Japan separating the island from the Korean Peninsula, officials said.

"We do consider it provocative behavior," U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said.

Both Japan and South Korea protested. Japan called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting. South Korea said the tests would further deepen its neighbor's international isolation.

"We will take stern measures," said chief Japanese government spokesman Shinzo Abe, adding that economic sanctions were a possibility. He said the launch violated a longstanding moratorium, and that Tokyo was not given prior notification by Pyongyang.

The U.S. administration reacted quickly but made it clear that its response would not involve military action.

President Bush consulted with Hadley, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The State Department said Rice conferred with her counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

"It wasn't that he (the president) was surprised because we've seen this coming for a while," Hadley said. "I think his instinct is that this just shows the defiance of the international community by North Korea."

He said the long-range missile was the Taepodong-2, which failed 35 seconds after launch. Experts believe the missile — North Korea's most advanced with a range of up to 9,320 miles — could reach the United States with a light payload.

The State Department said the smaller missiles includes Scuds, which could target South Korea, and Rodongs, which has a range of about 620 miles and could target Japan.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported as many as 10 missiles may have been launched, but officials could not confirm that.

The launch came after weeks of speculation that the North was preparing to test the Taepodong-2 from a site on its northeast coast. U.S. and Japanese officials said six missiles were fired in all, launched over a four-hour period beginning about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday (2:30 p.m. Tuesday ET).

Meanwhile, the North American Aerospace Defense Command — which monitors the skies for threats to North American security — went on heightened alert, said NORAD spokesman Michael Kucharek.

"The safety of our people and resources is our top priority," Kucharek said.

If the timing is correct, the North Korean missiles were launched within minutes of Tuesday's liftoff of Discovery, which blasted into orbit from Cape Canaveral in the first U.S. space shuttle launch in a year.

Hadley suggested the tests might have been an attempt to grab the international spotlight.

"It's very difficult to know what the North Koreans think they are doing this for," Hadley said. "Obviously, it is a bit of an effort to get attention, perhaps because so much attention has been focused on the Iranians."

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.

North Korea had observed a moratorium on long-range missile launches since 1999. It shocked the world in 1998 by firing a Taepodong missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean.

On Monday, the North's main news agency quoted an unidentified newspaper analyst as saying Pyongyang was prepared to answer a U.S. military attack with "a relentless annihilating strike and a nuclear war."

The Bush administration responded by saying while it had no intention of attacking, it was determined to protect the United States if North Korea launched a long-range missile.

On Monday, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns warned North Korea against firing the missile and urged the communist country to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear program.

The six-party talks, suspended by North Korea, involved negotiations by the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia with Pyongyang over the country's nuclear program.

The United States and its allies South Korea and Japan have taken quick steps over the past week to strengthen their missile defenses. Washington and Tokyo are working on a joint missile-defense shield, and South Korea is considering the purchase of American SM-2 defensive missiles for its destroyers.

The U.S. and North Korea have been in a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program since 2002. The North claims to have produced nuclear weapons, but that claim has not been publicly verified by outside analysts.

While public information on North Korea's military capabilities is murky, experts doubt that the regime has managed to develop a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on its long-range missiles.

Nonetheless, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told U.S. lawmakers last week that officials took the potential launch reports seriously and were looking at the full range of capabilities possessed by North Korea.
____________________________________________________________
It's been quiet for the past few hours.  This was updated at 10:10.  To my knowledge a press conference has not been called.  Is it pretty much in agreement that the 4th of July date was intentional?

[True Democrat]

Drop a few bombs on their country, but unfortunately with China in the council, we will not be able to put sanctions on NK.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Drop a few bombs on their country, but unfortunately with China in the council, we will not be able to put sanctions on NK.

Naturally.  That whole area is heating up.  2--6 was the predicted year for China to invade Taiwan.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

From USA Today this morning: World condemns N. Korea missile tests



World condemns N. Korea missile tests

By Lee Jin-man, AP
South Korean protesters burn a picture of depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and North's flags during an anti-North Korea rally in Seoul on Wednesday.

SEOUL (AP) — North Korea test-fired a seventh missile Wednesday, intensifying the furor that began when the reclusive regime defied international protests by launching a long-range missile and at least five shorter-range rockets earlier in the day.
The missiles, all of which apparently fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan, provoked international condemnation, the convening of an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council and calls in Tokyo for economic sanctions against the impoverished communist regime.

North Korea remained defiant, with one official arguing it had the right to such launches. The tests and the impenitent North Korean attitude raised fears that further firings could follow.

VIDEO: N. Korea tests 7th missile

North Korea's state-run media did not mention the missile tests but a commentator on its Korean Central Broadcasting Station said the country's "military and people are fully prepared to cope with any provocation and challenge by U.S. imperialists."

"Maintenance of peace in our country is entirely made possible by our strong war deterrent," the announcer said, adding that without it, the North would have suffered a "cruel nuclear disaster."

An official at the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that North Korea had tested a seventh missile that was either short- or medium-range. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of agency rules.

Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that the missile landed six minutes after launch, but did not say where. The chief of Russia's general staff said that Russian tracking systems showed that Pyongyang may have launched up to 10 missiles during the day, the Interfax news agency reported.

U.S. officials said North Korea fired a long-range Taepodong-2 early in the day, but that it failed shortly after takeoff, calling into question the technological capability of North Korea's feared ballistic missile program. Pyongyang last fired a long-range missile in 1998.

The bold firings came under close international scrutiny of the North's missile launch facilities. The North American Aerospace Defense Command monitored the launches as they progressed but soon determined they were not a threat to the United States, a spokesman said.

Some feared more firings. Pyongyang could test more missiles soon despite the international outcry, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said after making a protest via telephone to North Korea's ambassador.

"We think they probably do intend to launch more missiles in the next day or two," Downer told reporters, without explaining if the possibility of more tests came up in his talk with ambassador Chon Jae Hong.

South Korea, separated from the North by the world's most heavily armed border, said the test-launches would further deepen its neighbor's international isolation, sour public opinion in the South toward Pyongyang, and hurt efforts to control weapons of mass destruction.

The tests, which came as the United States celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle Discovery, appeared timed to draw the most attention from Washington. Some speculated that Pyongyang wanted some of the spotlight that was focused on Iran's nuclear program.

"North Korea wants to get the U.S. to direct bilateral negotiations by using the missile card," said Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute. "Timing the launch date on July 4 is an attempt to apply maximum pressure on the U.S. government."

A North Korea Foreign Ministry official told Japanese journalists in Pyongyang that the regime there has an undeniable right to test missiles.

"The missile launch is an issue that is entirely within our sovereignty. No one has the right to dispute it," Ri Pyong Dok, a researcher on Japanese affairs at the North's Foreign Ministry, said on footage aired by Japanese television network TBS. "On the missile launch, we are not bound by any agreement."

Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that an unidentified Foreign Ministry official in Pyongyang acknowledged the tests, but Ri told reporters that diplomats such as himself are unaware of what the military is doing.

In Russia, Interfax quoted the army chief of staff, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky as saying the number of missiles fired by North Korea could be higher than the six cited by the U.S., Japan and South Korea.

"According to various data, 10 missiles were launched. Some say that these were missiles of various classes; however, some claim that all missiles were intercontinental," Baluyevsky was quoted as saying in the Russian Far East city of Chita.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso warned of a "very high possibility" the U.N. would level economic sanctions against North Korea. Japan also protested the launches officially through the Chinese capital, and banned a North Korean ferry from Japanese ports for six months.

He also said North Korea may face harsher sanctions from Tokyo depending on Pyongyang's actions. Japan has already prohibited North Korean officials from traveling to the country and has barred a trade boat from entering Japanese waters.

The tests followed weeks of mounting speculation that North Korea would launch a Taepodong-2. U.S. intelligence reports indicated Pyongyang was taking steps to prepare for a launch, but the timing was unknown. North Korea refused to confirm the preparations, but insisted it had the right to such a test.

The test was likely to cast a pall over efforts to lure North Korea back to stalled six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang has boycotted the negotiations to protest a U.S. crackdown on alleged North Korean counterfeiting and other financial crimes. A North Korean official said Wednesday his country would stand by that stance.

Diplomatic moves over North Korea gathered pace. U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill was to leave Washington for the region later Wednesday, and the launches coincided with a trip by South Korea's security chief to Washington for consultations. China's vice-premier was also scheduled to go to Pyongyang next week.

China, North Korea's neighbor and most important ally, urged all parties to remain calm.

"We are seriously concerned with the situation which has already happened," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement on the ministry's website.

"We hope that all the relevant sides ... do more things which are conducive to peace and stability ... and not take any actions to escalate and complicate the situation," the statement said.

Two State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the long-range missile was the Taepodong-2, North Korea's most advanced missile with a range of up to 9,320 miles. Some experts believe it could reach the United States with a light payload.

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.

North Korea had observed a moratorium on long-range missile launches since 1999.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I honestly don't know. And neither does anyone else.

[Flying Dog]

i think we should impose economic sanctions on NK and place an embargo on their port cities. Nothing in or out of that country. WE SHOULD DO THIS WITH A MAJORITY OF INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OFCOURSE.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I wish Kim Jong Il a happy 4th of July and good luck with his nuclear missle testing.

Yeah, you're right.  Maybe we should show him how it's done. 

Guys, give Kim a break...he needs platform shoes for christsakes.

Ahah.

Don't waste a perfectly good weapon on Kim.

We could use an old worthless nuke on him, but the only bad thing would be if it malfunctioned--we'd have a Godzilla Kim Jong Il...wait...big & Kim Jong Il--not making sense here.

While we're making fun of him:
Why does Kim always pay with Credit Cards?  B/c when he pays w/ cash he always comes up short.

Yah, I know, that last one was lamer than FDR (no offense Mr. President).

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Here's some USA Today links to articles that I was going to post before the website went down.  (What the heck happened anyway?):
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-05-northkorea-neighbors_x.htm?csp=24
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-05-missiles-ready_x.htm?csp=24
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-05-northkorea-neighbors_x.htm?csp=24
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-05-launch-analysis_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-05-northkorea-un_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-05-missiles-ready_x.htm?csp=24

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

OK, here's the last of the articles, unless something Big happens again:

Japan tries new draft resolution retaining threat of sanctions on N. Korea

By Osamu Honda, AP
John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Kenzo Oshima, Japan's ambassador to the U.N., after meetings on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Japan introduced a draft Security Council resolution Friday that would sanction North Korea for test-launching a series of missiles, despite Chinese and Russian fears of inflaming tensions with the isolated communist nation.
China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said if the draft is put to a vote, the council would not send a united message to the North that its missile tests are unacceptable. Yet he did not say whether China would abstain or use its veto power to sink the resolution.

The draft — which has the support of the United States, Britain and France — is tougher than previous versions. It adds language saying that no nation will procure missiles or missile related "items, materials goods and technology" from North Korea, or transfer financial resources connected to the North's program.

Also included is earlier language ordering countries to "take those steps necessary" to keep the North from acquiring items that could be used for its missile program. Diplomats said it could be put to a vote Saturday.

With the resolution formally introduced, the council can vote on it after 24 hours, but U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said that did not necessarily mean a vote would take place Saturday.

A U.S. official said diplomats might hold off voting until next week to allow more time for diplomacy to work. In particular, they want to see if China, the North's main ally, can find a solution.

"There is a hint that states want to see what the Chinese can do," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the strategy had not been made public.

North Korea set off an international furor Wednesday when it tested seven missiles, all of which landed in the Sea of Japan without causing any damage. The blasts apparently included a long-range Taepodong-2 — potentially capable of hitting the western United States — that broke up less than a minute after takeoff.

Wang signaled China's opposition to the draft, saying the council must act "responsibly, taking into account all possible negative consequences that we might lead into."

"If this resolution is put to a vote, definitely there will be no unity in the Security Council," he said. He refused to say if China would veto or abstain.

The North has repeatedly warned that sanctions would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

Council diplomats also have before them a far weaker draft statement, Wang said.

The document, which is not legally binding, is believed to condemn North Korea but would not threaten sanctions. Russia has said it favors a such a statement without sanctions, because its goal is the resumption of six-party talks over the North's nuclear program.

Diplomats from the United States, Britain and Japan had met earlier Friday to discuss how to proceed, weighing whether to push ahead with the draft despite the objections from China and Russia.

Japan's U.N. Ambassador Kenzo Oshima insisted that Tokyo would not allow the sanctions demand to be removed, nor would it back down on having the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which is militarily enforceable.

"We would like to have a resolution which is firm in its message and a resolution that would hopefully enjoy the full support of all members," he said.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

U.S. urges China to pressure North Korea
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Sunday pushed China to apply more pressure on North Korea to end its missile tests and return to international nuclear disarmament talks. A top diplomat said the aim is to show that Kim Jong Il's government has "no support in the world."
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns also indicated the United States would not grant North Korea the direct talks it is seeking in the wake of its test-firing of seven missiles, including some that possibly could reach the American continent. President Bush has opposed one-on-one negotiations, too.

"We really don't see the logic of turning this into a test of wills between two countries — the United States and North Korea," Burns said.

The diplomatic goal is to compel North Korea to return to stalled six-nation talks aimed at ridding the reclusive communist-led nation of its nuclear weapons program, Burns said. The U.S. consistently has rejected formal direct talks with North Korea, preferring the six-party negotiations, deadlocked since November.

U.S. officials have previously said they would only have direct discussions with North Korea in the context of the six-party talks. U.S. and North Korean officials have had informal meetings on a number of occasions over the past few years.

"The problem here is not the lack of discussion between the United States and North Korea," Burns said Sunday. "We're perfectly willing to sit down with them in that six-party environment."

Getting support from China, North Korea's main ally and trading partner, is seen as crucial. Burns, joined by members of Congress, urged Beijing to use its "influence and exert some pressure on the North Korean regime" to return to the talks that involve the Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

These efforts, he said, are aimed to "convince the North Koreans that they're isolated, that they have no support in the world, and they've got to come back to this six-party framework."

China recently proposed that the six-party talks resume on an "informal" basis in an effort to entice North Korea back to the table.

Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy to the nuclear negotiations, has been in Asia, talking to his diplomatic counterparts; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush have been calling world leaders in the region; at the United Nations, Japan has proposed a Security Council resolution calling for penalties against North Korea.

"As many of you know, the Chinese have talked about putting together a six-party informal, and we both support that and we think that all countries are prepared to come to that informal meeting," Hill told reporters in Seoul recently after meeting with South Korea's top nuclear negotiator.

Asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting with the North, he said: "Within the informal six-party talks, yes, I can. I just can't do it when they are boycotting the six-party talks."

The U.S., Britain and France support the idea of penalties against North Korea over its missile testing, but the other two veto-empowered members of the council, China and Russia, are opposed. "We think we've got the votes to pass that," Burns said of the resolution.

Burns expressed confidence that a united message could be sent. China and Russia, he said, "understand that, as two members of the six-party framework, they have a responsibility to use their influence with North Korea."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that how Beijing handled North Korea would be a "defining issue in our relations with China." He suggested that if China continues to "vacillate" in the United Nations, "there are consequences in our relationship."

"There are many key areas that we are cooperating in that I believe would be affected, including trade, by China's failure to act," McCain said.

Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is now relenting from his earlier advocacy of direct negotiations.

"The shots eliminated the efficacy of that," said Lugar, R-Ind.
____________________________________________________________

Call for sanctions on North Korea divides U.N. Security Council
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A Japanese-backed draft resolution to sanction North Korea for its missile launches has "broad and deep support," despite differences in the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Thursday.
But Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador told The Associated Press that Moscow would not back proposed sanctions. Instead, Russia wants the council to pass a non-binding presidential statement with the goal of getting North Korea back into six-party talks on its nuclear program.

"No, we don't think that sanctions is the instrument, the leverage which is to be employed right now and right here," Konstantin Dolgov told the AP.

It remained unclear how serious the division were or whether they would stall diplomats' efforts for quick council action on North Korea for its missile launches.

Bolton said he was encouraged that all sides — including China and Russia — were united in their condemnation of the launches.

"There may be a disagreement at the moment over the vehicle that we use here in the council, but no one speaks in favor of North Korea, no one takes the North Korean line," he said. "I must say that the text of the Japanese resolution has broad and deep support."

On Wednesday, Japan, the U.S. and Britain pressed the U.N. Security Council to slap economic sanctions on North Korea for the series of missile test-launches, but ran into immediate opposition from Pyongyang allies Russia and China, who insisted diplomacy was the only way to resolve the crisis.

Japan later circulated a resolution that would ban any country from transferring funds, material and technology that could be used in North Korea's missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.

In closed consultations Wednesday, Russia and China made clear their distaste for a resolution, which could be legally enforceable.

Chinese President Hu Jintao urged calm and restraint in a telephone conversation with President Bush, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Both China and Russia say the chief goal must be getting North Korea to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program. What remains to be seen is whether they would use their vetoes as permanent members of the council to sink a resolution or simply abstain.

"Strong reaction, strong message, clear message, yes," Dolgov said. "But we should be realistic because (a) very important element for us, and the guiding principle, is not to endanger peace and security and stability in the region, and not to foreclose the prospects for six-party talks."

Bolton said Chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill was on his way to Beijing to discuss the possibility of reviving six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear program