North Korea Fires Missiles

[Annie]

the 'big' one failed:

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/national/article.aspx?storyid=34700

North Korea launches test missiles

UNDATED (AP) — The U.S. State Department says North Korea has launched a long-range missile, but that it failed 35 seconds after lifting off.

Experts believe a Taepodong-2 could reach the United States with a light payload.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government is confirming that North Korea test-launched three missiles into the Sea of Japan. The confirmation follows reports by Japanese media that as many as four missiles may have been launched.

Japan is protesting the launches. So far, no members of the UN Security Council, which includes Japan and the United States, have asked for a meeting on North Korea's actions.

Washington is not 'alarmed', just realistic in what it means:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060704...4KCscEA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

The White House said Tuesday that North Korea's decision to escalate its nuclear standoff with the international community by test-firing missiles is a move that will further alienate themselves from the international community.

"The North Koreans have again clearly isolated themselves," White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters at the White House.

The test firings included at least two short-range missiles and a long-range Taepodong-2, the communist nation's most advanced missile with a range of up to 9,320.

The longer-range missile is believed capable of reaching U.S. soil. All the missiles landed in the Sea of Japan, according to the Japanese government.

President Bush has been in consultation with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Snow said.

Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state, is set to head to the region on Wednesday, and Hadley is to meet with his South Korean counterpart, a meeting in Washington that already had been scheduled, Snow said.

The test firings, which are seen as a provocation by the United States and other nations trying to get North Korea to submit to a verifiable nuclear program, occurred as Americans were celebrating Independence Day.

The reclusive communist nation's action came after weeks of speculation that it was preparing to test its Taepodong 2 missile. The preparations prompted warnings from the United States and Japan, which had threatened possible economic sanctions in response.

 

[Gunny]

And when we open the can of whoopass on N Korea, the lefties will all be screeching in their shrill voices that we had no reason to.

 

[Annie]

More interesting indeed, seems 5 missiles launched. All failed? Hmmm... I think this analysis may be good:

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/007387.php

July 04, 2006
North Korea Launches Missiles, Fails Miserably

North Korea attempted to launch three missiles this afternoon after sitting on the one Taepodong-2 ICBM for the last few weeks. Unfortunately for Kim Jong-Il, the arrows he shot into the air fell to ground -- and we know where:

North Korea launched a long-range missile Wednesday that may be capable of reaching the United States but it failed after 35 or 40 seconds, two State Department officials said.

The missile was one of at least three that were fired. The two others were short-range missiles. All landed in the Sea of Japan, said the Japanese government, which was unable to confirm that they included a long-range missile.

The officials in Washington, 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.

The launch came after weeks of speculation that the North was preparing to test its advanced Taepodong-2 missile from a site on its northeast coast. The preparations had generated stern warnings from the United States and Japan, which had threatened possible economic sanctions in response.​

Pyongyang apparently planned these launches to coincide with the American launch of the space shuttle to distract attention from the space program. They certainly got everyone's attention, but they probably wish they hadn't. The failure of all three is a huge embarrassment to the Kim regime. 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.

CNN reports from its Situation Room that the missiles fell into the sea just offshore of the northern island of Hokkaido. That seems to indicate that North Korea sent the missile on a route that would have taken the missile towards Alaska, or perhaps a polar route to North America. Shooting missiles at the US on our national holiday guarantees a rather hostile reaction from America.

We have not yet officially responded, but our response should remind North Korea that we will not sit quietly while nutcase dictators shoot missiles at us or our allies. Even when such dictators produce such stupendously incompetent products, we will not rely on their technological incompetence for our national security. We cannot allow such provocations to go unanswered. Japan especially will want to respond strongly since the smaller Nodongs appeared to be aimed at them.

One has to wonder at the sudden and early failure of all three rockets. Make that 5 (five) missiles After all, the Kim regime has successfully launched the Nodong before. It seems a little strange that all three missiles failed so quickly after their launch. Besides sheer incompetence, two explanations could apply. On one hand, the North Koreans may have launched them because they could not safely defuel them; they could have aborted the missiles shortly after launch to ensure that they did not fly long enough to provoke an American response. If that were the case, though, one would expect that they would have notified at least the Chinese in order to ensure that we did not overreact to the launches.

Alternately, the US could have activated anti-missile defense systems and taken all three of them down immediately after their launch. So far, the news reports do not address that possibility. We moved a lot of those assets to the theater when Kim staged the rocket. Could we have had three successful tests of that system? If so, we mau have neutered the threat from both North Korea and Iran. That's wishful thinking, and unless the administration starts talking about that soon, we can probably discount that possibility.

Whatever happened, one fact is certain: Kim has been caught with his pants down.

UPDATE: I'm still watching CNN, and their expert on North Korea, Han Park, tells them via phone from Seoul that the North Korean missiles posed no threat to the United States and we shouldn't react at all. He also says that North Korea wanted to show their expertise at weapons production in order to sell their wares abroad -- and figures that the results reflect positively on Pyongyang.

In other words, Park wants us to believe that North Korea actually impressed people by staging a demonstration of missiles that can't fly even for one full minute. Riiiiiiiiiiight.

UPDATE II: CNN now reports that six missiles got fired today, including another Taepodong-2. No word yet on the success or failure of the second TD-2.

UPDATE III: The White House only confirms five tests. Presumably the second TD-2 test was a bad call by CNN.
Posted by Captain Ed at July 4, 2006 05:03 PM

 

[Annie]

South Korea saying 10 missiles sent up:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2153858

Defiant N. Korea Fires Series of Missiles
Defiant N. Korea Test-Launches Series of Missiles, Including Long-Range One That Failed
By ERIC TALMADGE
The Associated Press

TOKYO - 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 shorter range missiles in an exercise the White House called "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.

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

None of the missiles made it as far as Japan. The Japanese government said all landed in the Sea of Japan between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

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

Japan protested the tests and called for a U.N. Security Council meeting.

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

President Bush has been in consultation with Hadley, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. The State Department said Rice will start conferring tonight with her counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

Hadley said the long-range missile was the Taepodong-2, which failed 35 seconds after launch. Experts believe the Taepodong-2 Korea's most advanced missile 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 Scud and Rodongs. The Scuds are short-range and could target South Korea. The Rodong has a range of about 620 miles and could target Japan.

The launch came after weeks of speculation that the North was preparing to test the Taepodong-2 from a site on its northeast coast. The preparations had generated stern warnings from the United States and Japan, which had threatened possible economic sanctions in response.

U.S. officials said the missiles were launched over a four-hour period beginning about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday (2:30 p.m. Tuesday EDT).

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.

Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state, is set to head to the region on Wednesday, and Hadley is to meet with his South Korean counterpart, a meeting in Washington that already had been scheduled, the White House said.

"There's a lot going on," he said. "The safety of our people and resources is our top priority."

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.

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.

 

[shepherdboy]

More interesting indeed, seems 5 missiles launched. All failed? Hmmm... I think this analysis may be good:

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/007387.php

I just really wonder if the missiles were really a failure. Where was the location of Agent Jack Bauer at the time?

 

[USMCDevilDog]

Look like we got some good gov't work going on here. If it was us, I am very happy and grateful that we did that, if it was really a mechanical failure, then I am very happy and grateful that the N. Koreans are fucking idiots.....aren't Koreans supposed to be the smart ones??