North Korea Test-Fires Two Missiles

[American Patriot]

Leaders urge restraint over N Korea crisis
Dennis Shanahan and Geoff Elliott
June 29, 2006
CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao and John Howard have called for North Korea and, by implication, the US, to avoid inflaming the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.

The two leaders, speaking yesterday after an hour of talks in Shenzen, called on all parties to the crisis to avoid provocation and arousing further suspicion.

Mr Howard appealed to the Chinese Premier to encourage the North Koreans to pull back and not to behave in a provocative fashion.

"All participants must refrain from any provocative behaviour which will only deepen levels of distrust that exist at the moment," the Prime Minister said at a joint press conference with Mr Wen after the talks.

Mr Wen said he would "work actively" to restart the stalled six-party talks, the only path he believed to resolving the crisis, escalated by Pyongyang's moves in the past week to prepare the testing of a long-range missile that would be capable of hitting Hawaii. "We hope that the various parties refrain from taking measures that might worsen the situation on the peninsula," Mr Wen said.

Speaking in Washington, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson called on China to persuade North Korea to abandon preparations for the missile test.

The fuelling of the Korean Taepodong 2 last week triggered reports, denied by the White House, that the US had prepared its unproved National Missile Defence System to take out the North Korean missile if it approached US territory.

Following a meeting with US Vice-President Dick Cheney, Dr Nelson played down talk in Washington of a pre-emptive strike against North Korea.

He said the "most important thing" was world pressure on North Korea, from the UN "and countries such as the United States and hopefully also China needs to be brought to bear on North Korea to see plain commonsense".

Members of the US Senate's Armed Services Committee were given a classified briefing on the status of Taepodong 2 preparations. The committee's Republican chairman, John Warner, said after the meeting that satellite imagery of the launch site indicated a launch was not imminent.

[American Patriot]

NK launched two missiles out over the japan sea a few minutes ago.

The fell into the sea. I suspect they are testing our shoot-down capabilities.

Rick

[Sean Osborne]

The two missiles appear to have been North Korean surface to air defense missiles. The missiles reached their maximum range, expended themselves, and fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan.

More to come...

[American Patriot]

News is reporting four missiles.

Also reporting the TD-2 was launched and failed.

[American Patriot]

Intel NOW believes it was the TD-2 that failed.

[Sean Osborne]

Four (4) missiles were fired.

I now have one source reporting that the first two and the fourth were short-range Scud-type surface to surface missiles -possibly fired at US subsurface platforms in the area.

The Taepodong-2 was the third of the total of four missiles that were fired - or shoud I say, was attempted to be fired... it may have auto-detonated on the launchpad or been destroyed on the launchpad.

"Failure in flight" means from the moment liftoff from the launchpad is achieved forward. Again... if liftoff was achieved.


Either way, this makes for great fireworks on the 4th of July.

[Ryan Ruck]

I have heard reports now saying that 5-7 missiles have been launched.

[Sean Osborne]

6 missiles is what I am hearing now. 4 Scud-type, 1 Nodong and 1 Taepodong-2.

[Ryan Ruck]

I've now heard some say up to 10 missiles.

[American Patriot]

I had hypothesized.. they were decoys. Fox said that some time afte I did.

[Sean Osborne]

There were no "decoy" missile launches.

Any of our IR sensors can unambiguously distinguish between the launch of a Scud variant, a Nodong and a Taepodong-2.

The fact that the sheer numbers of launches which occured today did in fact occur is the real story.

Iran has funded a colossal failure, a fact which pleases me to no end.

[American Patriot]

You missed the point.

they were "decoys". trust me on this one
As far as DPRK WAS concerned anyway

[Sean Osborne]

Sounds to me like somebody needs to bring the DPRK up to speed on how IR signature blooms (ie: IR Fingerprints) identify specific types of engines and the projectiles they get airborne.

Then again, since the Dear Leader just came back from a trip to Russia he aleady knew this.

Ditto for the Red Chinese.

Therefore, with all due respect, I do not accept that these were decoy launches.

My analysis is that the Trans-Asian Axis leadership is not composed of stupid men - i.e.: there was no attempt to decoy or decieve anyone with these launches. They each had a specific purpose - they each failed to one degree or another, but they were purposeful launches and failures nonetheless.

[Ryan Ruck]

I think there is a mixup between "decoy" and "camouflage" here...

I'm going to hazard a guess and suggest that perhaps Rick means "decoys" in the sense that they would lessen the impact of a failed TD-2 launch (Oh look, only one out of our ~10 missile launches failed!) or, be used to bolster a successful one.

Not "decoys" in a sense of covering up the actual TD-2 or ND launches. After all, these missiles were launched from a number of locations and, I don't think that DPRK leaders are so dumb as to think that would camouflage anything.

[Aplomb]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...4B9yYSs&refer=

3:33 a.m. Scud-C, short-range ballistic missile, is launched. It lands in the Sea of Japan, short of Japanese coastline.
4:04 a.m. Rodong, medium-range ballistic missile, or a Scud-C is fired and lands short of Japan. This and first launch were not considered unusual by U.S. officials.
5:01 a.m. Taepodong-2, long-range ballistic missile, is launched and vanishes in less than a minute. This missile also landed in the Sea of Japan.
7:12 a.m. Scud-C, or other missile, fired and lands in Sea of Japan at 7:17 a.m.
7:31 a.m. Rodong missile is launched, landing in the Sea of Japan at 6:36 a.m.
Time not determined: Another Rodong launched. The U.S. Northern Command said all missiles landed in the Sea of Japan. South Korea's government said the missile launches were from Hwadae in the northern province of Hamkyung Bukdo and Anbyun in Kangwondo province in the east.

Maybe the purpose was to put on a fireworks show for Valiant Shield. lol

[American Patriot]

News Release


DIRECTORATE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, HEADQUARTERS, U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND,
250 VANDENBERG, STE B016, PETERSON AFB, CO 80914-3808 PHONE: (719) 554-6889 DSN: 692-6889
www.northcom.mil

July 4, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – As of 1730 hrs MST, U.S. Northern Command officials acknowledged today that the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea launched six ballistic missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 missile from Taepodong at approximately 4 p.m. EDT.

USNORTHCOM personnel were immediately able to detect the launch of all the missiles and all of them landed in the Sea of Japan.

While Ground-based Midcourse Defense System interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., were operational during all the missile launches, top officials from the command were able to determine quickly the missiles posed no threat to United States or its territories. The TD-2 missile launch failed on its own in the early stages and landed in the Sea of Japan.

The GMD System, while not utilized for any of the launches, is available when needed to defend the United States, its allies, infrastructure and population centers. Our missile defense crews are trained and our systems are ready to respond as necessary. U.S. Northern Command has the primary responsibility to direct missile defense operations to protect the homeland, allies, friends and other national interests from potentially hostile acts.

Command officials will not discuss under what circumstances or conditions deployment of the interceptors will be considered.

[American Patriot]

When I posted that yesterday I was quite busy with several things, including listening to several news reports and being on the telephone. I really didn't have time to go into detail on what I was talking about.

When I say "decoy", it is "OUR" belief that the other missile launches were done in an ATTEMPT to keep us GUESSING as to what was what.

The North Koreans DO think we are stupid and do NOT have a clue as to our defensive capabilities at this point. They believed "WE THINK" that if they launched more than one missile it would "confuse" the US and it's allies into not knowing "what to shoot at". In a sense these indeed were decoys.

The later missiles -- one I believe this morning -- was merely a last ditch effort to still "confuse" and hide what they were doing. It's OBVIOUSLY not working, Sean... and we all know what has happened at this point.

I suppose I don't see where the issue is with the word "decoy". It's certainly plausible that the North Koreans do not know how good our defenses are and hoped perhaps to get us to do something "dumb".

In fact, it is the opinion of several people in the Administration this morning that there will certainly be more attempts to the point of causing a war with neighbors.

[American Patriot]

Australian minister says North Korea expected to launch more missiles soon
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/intern...in047000c.html ^ | July 5 2006

CANBERRA -- Australia expects North Korea to test-launch more missiles soon despite the international furor caused by the communist nation's series of launches Wednesday, the Australian foreign minister said.

Alexander Downer made the comments after making a telephone call to North Korea's ambassador to Australia, Chon Jae Hong, to protest the surprise launches.

"We think they probably do intend to launch more missiles in the next day or two," Downer told reporters.

He did not say whether his conversation with the ambassador had prompted his suspicions.

Downer said the North Koreans launched five short-range missiles and unsuccessfully launched a long-range intercontinental missile.

The long-range missile test failed 35 seconds after it was fired, according to U.S. officials. The missiles fell into the Sea of Japan.

Australia backed a U.N. Security Council decision to hold, at Japan's request, an emergency session Wednesday to discuss North Korea's missile tests.

(Excerpt) Read more at mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp ...

[American Patriot]

Nato Urges 'Firm Response' To N Korea Missile Launch
Breaking News.ie ^ | 7/5/06

Nato has called for a firm international response to North Korea’s missile launch which the western alliance condemned as a threat to security in east Asia and the wider world.

“North Korea’s missile proliferation and provocative actions necessitate a firm response from the international community,” the 26-nation alliance said in a statement from Brussels.

“We call on North Korea to cease immediately the development of long-range missiles and reconfirm its moratorium on all long-range missile launches.”

The alliance said North Korea’s development and use of ballistic missiles “pose a serious threat to the region and to the international community at large”.

“We regret and condemn this launch,” it added.

The European Union echoed similar concerns and also condemned North Korea. There can be no question that such action puts additional strain on regional stability. They certainly don’t do anything to aid non-proliferation efforts,” said EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin.

“What we would like to see is North Korea return to the moratorium that has held since September 1999 and of course return to the talks ... and try to secure a solution through dialogue.”

North Korea test-fired a long-range missile and several shorter-range rockets today in defiance of international warnings.

Nato nations said they would support “efforts to address this matter” in the UN Security Council which was meeting in emergency session later Wednesday amid calls from Japan for economic sanctions against the impoverished communist regime.

[American Patriot]

World condemns North Korean missile tests
AP via Yahoo! ^ | Wednesday, July 5, 2006 | JOSEPH COLEMAN

SEOUL, South Korea - 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.

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, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing agency rules, had no additional details.

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.

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 that the country had the right to such launches. The tests and the impenitent North Korean attitude raised fears that further firings could follow.

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 additional missiles soon despite the international outcry over Wednesday's launches, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said after making a protest via telephone to North Korea's ambassador to Canberra, Chon Jae Hong.

"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 Chon.

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 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."

North Korea remained undaunted. 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 national broadcaster NHK reported that an unidentified Foreign Ministry official in Pyongyang acknowledged the firing of the missiles, 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 at a news conference in the Russian Far East city of Chita.

In Tokyo, 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.

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 on 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 brief statement posted on the ministry's Web site.

"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 U.S. 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.

The missiles all landed hundreds of miles away from Japan and there were no reports the missiles caused damage within Japanese territory, said Japanese spokesman Shinzo Abe.

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.

___

AP reporters Larry Margasak in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Eric Talmadge in Tokyo, Judith Ingram in Moscow and Kwang-tae Kim and Jae-soon Chang in Seoul contributed to this report.