North Korea launches five missiles on US holiday

last SG · 2006-07-05T15:24:42+00:00

Kim had no legitimacy to begin with. He ranks in the same league as the East German leader.

^tamago^ SG

North Korea launches volley of missiles on US holiday

05 July 2006 0806 hrs (SST) 0006 hrs (GMT)

TOKYO : North Korea test-fired six missiles on Wednesday, including a long-range Taepodong-2 capable of reaching US soil, sparking furious condemnation from neighboring Japan and the United States.

US officials in Washington said Pyongyang launched five short- or medium-range missiles, which splashed down in the Sea of Japan, and a Taepodong-2 that apparently failed less than a minute after liftoff.

The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported 10 launches, but there was no official confirmation.

Urgent consultations were underway at the United Nations in New York following the tests, which coincided with the US Independence Day holiday and a US space shuttle launch. Washington announced it was dispatching a senior official to the region.

South Korea called an emergency cabinet meeting following the tests by its communist neighbor while Japan denounced the launches as a "grave problem" and said it was considering economic sanctions against North Korea.

The White House condemned the tests as "provocative behaviour" and a violation of a seven-year-old missile launch moratorium but said they did not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

In Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told reporters the missiles landed in the Sea of Japan, several hundred kilometers (miles) from the coast of Japan.

Abe, the government's top spokesman, said Pyongyang had defied the international community. "Today's launches were done despite advance warning by the relevant countries," he said.

"This is a grave problem in terms of peace and stability not only of Japan but also of international society. We strongly protest against North Korea."

"Japan will take stern measures against North Korea," he added.

"Cooperating with the United States, we will work for the UN Security Council to take appropriate measures.

"Japan will take any kind of sanctions we can take."

In Washington, the White House denounced the launches as "provocative" and the Taepodong-2 firing as a violation of a unilateral North Korean pledge made in 1999 to forego long-range tests.

"We do consider it provocative behavior," US national security advisor Stephen Hadley told reporters.

Hadley said the Taepodong-2 did not pose a danger to the United States because "a missile that fails after 40 seconds is not a threat."

The US missile defense system based in California, Alaska and onboard US Navy ships had been on high alert in anticipation of the Taepodong-2 test and ready to shoot any missile down if it threatened US territory.

But since it failed at an early stage, "no action was taken," said a US defense official.

A senior US official said the United States was sending its envoy to the six-nation North Korean nuclear talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, to Asia on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

At the United Nations, US Ambassador John Bolton held urgent talks with his foreign counterparts, but no formal meeting of the UN Security Council was immediately scheduled.

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.

The North Korean missile launches came as millions of Americans celebrated Independence Day and minutes after the US space shuttle Discovery roared into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

US President George W. Bush was at the White House celebrating his 60th birthday two days early with a group of friends after making a stay-the-course speech on Iraq earlier in the day at a military base in North Carolina.

Bush stayed out of sight but discussed the volatile situation with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Hadley, the White House said.

US envoy Hill warned last week that a long-range missile launch by North Korea could derail the six-party talks over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

He said that a missile test would have "the opposite effect" and actually compromise rather than strengthen the regime's security.

Preparations for the launch of a multi-stage Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles) had been underway for several weeks at Musudanri on the remote northeast coast of North Korea. - AFP /dt

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/palmnews/asiapacific/view/217257/1/.html

http://military.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=198731

LazerLordz SG

Highly provocative. Mad

^tamago^ SG

yeah. sigh. Confused

alexkusu SG

sly....

LazerLordz SG

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20060705/630000000020060705082040E6.html

An hour ago, Yonhap News Agency confirmed a total of 6 missile launches. 2 ICBMs and 4 SSMs.

"N. Korea said to test-fire two additional missiles

WASHINGTON/TOKYO, July 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has test-fired a total of six missiles thus far Wednesday morning (Korean time) and is preparing to fire two more missiles, a ranking official of the U.S. administration was quoted as telling Reuters.

The official also condemned North Korea's missile firing as a challenge to the international community, saying the action will further deepen the North's isolation.

Meanwhile, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton was quoted by a Japanese news wire as saying the U.S. and Japan have already started discussions on referring the North Korean missile problems to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions."

MohamedF SG

Did North Korea broke any air-space rule? If not then North Korea has every right to test fire any missle they have as long as it’s in their border….

alexkusu SG

so did the missile fly over japan or landed near its doorsteps?

LazerLordz SG

Hmm, so 8 missiles in total?

Some sources said 10..

^tamago^ SG

looks like both israel and north korea will go into war next month....

2nd august is a day to watch...

LazerLordz SG

Hmm one of the ICBMs flew within 600km of Japanese soil. They were all fired outwards. That's the problem.

You don't know if it's going to malfunction and breakup over a populated area. They didn't give prior notification and seeing what kind of kangaroo nation NK is, I'm not even sure I want them testing any form of missile at all.

A big threat to peace and stability, that's what they are. Mad

LazerLordz SG

(4th LD) N. Korea test-fires several missiles

SEOUL, July 5 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government confirmed Wednesday that North Korea test-fired several missiles, possibly including one long-range missile called the Taepodong-2,but said it was still trying to confirm details on the missiles.

President Roh Moo-hyun was briefed on the missile launches and he immediately called an emergency meeting of security-related ministers, Roh's aides said.

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae was about to announce its position on the issue.

U.S. officials said their spy satellites detected five North Korean missile launches, adding that one missile, presumed to be a long-range Taepodong-2, failed within a minute after blast-off.

South Korea's military intelligence said North Korea appeared to have fired more missiles.

"North Korea fired a total of 10 missiles this morning," a military intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. "The missiles include Scuds, Rodongs and Taepodongs."
The United States was holding urgent consultations with other U.N. Security Council members after the launches, which came in defiance of strong warnings by the U.S. and Japan.

Washington said it plans to send its top nuclear negotiator to Asia to discuss countermeasures.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy to six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, will travel to Asia as early Thursday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The nuclear talks also involve South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

"We are going to be consulting on diplomatic next steps. We are going to do that in capitals and up at the U.N. as well," he said.

North Korea has not officially announced the launches.

"We diplomats do not know what the (North Korean) military is doing," Han Song-ryol, deputy chief of the North's mission to the United Nations, was quoted as saying in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

Earlier, Japanese media reported that North Korea test-fired at least three missiles early Wednesday morning that landed off the western coast of Japan.

Pyongyang's move followed weeks of reports that it is preparing to launch a long-range Taepodong-2 that is believed to be capable of reaching the western U.S.

The U.S. and Japan had warned that North Korea would face stern measures if it fired a missile in breach of its self-declared moratorium on missile testing in 1999.

Wednesday's missile test comes amid prolonged tensions over the North's nuclear weapons program, and it is likely to further complicate international efforts to resume the related six-party talks, as well as deal a blow to the burgeoning rapprochement between the two Koreas.

North Korea declared last year that it succeeded in developing nuclear weapons.

In Tokyo, a top Japanese official condemned the North's activity.

"It is regrettable, and we protest strongly against North Korea for going ahead with a launch despite warnings from relevant countries, including Japan," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said.

[email protected]

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20060705/610000000020060705092431E6.html

YI SG

why the 2nd? Shocked

hellomotosxq SG

FUCK NK . FUCK COMMUNIST . FUCK GONG CHAN DANG

LazerLordz SG

What does Gong Chan Dang mean? Shocked

YI SG

communist in mandarin.

LazerLordz SG

mmm. ok. Confused

dark_snowboy SG

i sort of expected US to move in to destroy their weapons but i guess they didnt have enough manpower?
whats china doing btw Laughing

Fatum SG

anyone thinks the missile with the longest range fell into the sea on it's own ? ... Laughing

used SG

LazerLordz SG

I'm thinking 50-50. It's not too impossible.

Does anyone know where ABL was stationed yesterday? Laughing