North Korea about to launch ICBM

[Ironsight 1]

Quote[/b] ]Nations press N. Korea on missile

Reports: Pyongyang completes pre-launch fueling

Monday, June 19, 2006; Posted: 3:49 a.m. EDT (07:49 GMT)

(CNN) -- Japan, Australia and the United States have united in saying that any test-launching of an intercontinental missile by North Korea would result in serious and stern consequences.

Reports say Pyongyang has completed fueling a missile with the range to reach the United States, increasing the chances a launch might occur soon.

U.S. officials told Reuters news agency it was difficult to remove fuel from a Taepodong-2 missile, making it appear likely that Pyongyang was serious about the launch.

Since word of a possible test-firing emerged last week, nations around the world have expressed growing concern.

On Monday, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was the latest leader to say the nation would respond sternly to a missile test by North Korea.

Earlier, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer warned the North Korean ambassador that "serious consequences would follow such a firing."

"Such action would be highly provocative and would further isolate the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Downer said in a statement issued early Monday.

While North Korea has not commented on any potential missile launch, the official KCNA news agency said in a statement Saturday that alleged sightings of U.S. military surveillance aircraft over the country were creating "an imminent danger of military clash in the sky above those waters."

Some U.S. officials said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il could be bluffing to gain leverage in stalled six-party talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. The talks include the two Koreas, Russia, the United States, Japan, and China.

The isolated communist state had sometimes engaged in surprise behavior to attract international attention when it felt it was being ignored, and it might feel slighted over the U.S. focus on resolving the nuclear issue with Iran, they said.

A test of a Taepodong-2 missile would be North Korea's first long-range missile test since 1998, when Pyongyang surprised the world and sparked an international crisis by firing an intermediate-range missile over Japan.

The United States has urged Pyongyang to return to talks on its nuclear programs. White House press secretary Tony Snow said on "CNN's Late Edition" that he would prefer to find ways to "draw Korea back into the international community rather than take provocative actions."

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso was more specific Sunday, saying: "If it flies over here, falls here or even they launch it towards the international sea ... we will immediately seek a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the issue."

South Korean ambassador to the United States, Lee Tae-sik, said that while the preparations were "quite worrisome," it was best not to "make a conclusion" that the test would take place.

"We see the signs that they are moving in that direction, yet we cannot rule out the possibility that at the last moment, it will change its mind," Lee said.

North Korea has observed a self-declared moratorium on long-range missile testing since 1999, and a 2005 pledge that calls on it and its neighbors, as well as the United States, to maintain peace and security in Northeast Asia.

CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor contributed to this report.

CNN.com

Would they really launch it?

[EiZei 0]

Party like it was the sixties again.

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Damn I hate the leaders of that country

[hellfish6 7]

I'd be really amused if the US or Japanese shot the missile down.

[Ironsight 1]

I'd be really amused if the US or Japanese shot the missile down.

Wouldn't be suprised if that happens.

I am curious though where it will land. Japan already said that they would see it as a serious provocation if it lands in Japanese territory.

[Ares1978 0]

I'd be really amused if the US or Japanese shot the missile down.

I thought about that, too. However, I think it would be funnier if they tried and failed.

[EiZei 0]

I'd be really amused if the US or Japanese shot the missile down.

With what? This is not your grandmother's scud we are talking about here.

[hellfish6 7]

I'd be really amused if the US or Japanese shot the missile down.

With what? This is not your grandmother's scud we are talking about here.

Well... we've got the 747 with the Airborne Laser, the new missile defense systems installed in Alaska, and the US and Japan both have anti-missile missiles on their Aegis ships. Thats at least three options right there.

Don't go thinking that the Taepodong-2 is terribly sophisticated. It's built on '50s and '60s technology. It may not be my grandma's Scud but it isn't my dad's SS-21 either.

[hellfish6 7]

I'd be really amused if the US or Japanese shot the missile down.

I thought about that, too. However, I think it would be funnier if they tried and failed.

Probably why it won't happen. Can you imagine the outcry if the vaunted missile defense system didn't work? How many billions of dollars did it cost us?

Then again, if it did work and it did shoot down the missile, imagine the message that it would send to North Korea.

[Ginger_Biscuit 0]

If North Korea has actually got it then my bet is they WILL launch it.  If they manage to successfully pull of a test launch then it should give Kim Jong Il some more leverage in the international community (and in the talks mentioned above).

However if is just a bluff then N.Korea might still come out on top.  What I mean is that if Japan, USA, Oz take pre-emptive action (political or otherwise) then Kim Jong can turn around a say "we never were going to launch."  If this happens then Japan, Australia and the US will be seen as making a fuss over nothing.

It's a case of fecked if they do and fecked if they don't' for the west and a possible good outcome for N.Korea.

Personally I think it won't amount to much in the long run. Japan and N.Korea have been arguing over missile tests and satellite launches for years and I think this is just another round in a war of words.

The Biscuit has spoken...

[EiZei 0]

Don't go thinking that the Taepodong-2 is terribly sophisticated. It's built on '50s and '60s technology. It may not be my grandma's Scud but it isn't my dad's SS-21 either.

True, but even those 50s/60s relics go really really fast in latter parts of the flight and those missile defence systems dont excatly have an impressive track record (IMHO).

Quote[/b] ]

Then again, if it did work and it did shoot down the missile, imagine the message that it would send to North Korea.

The message it would send would more likely be "build more."

EDIT: If the test launch would be successful it would also bring something new to the Iran situtation since N. Koreans are'nt excatly too squeamish about selling these kind of things..

[theavonlady 2]

I'd be really amused if the US or Japanese shot the missile down.

With what?

For what it's worth: National Missile Defense (NMD).

Quote[/b] ]This is not your grandmother's scud we are talking about here.

Anyone else here grow up in an underpriviledged family?

[Ginger_Biscuit 0]

Quote[/b] ]If the test launch would be successful it would also bring something new to the Iran situtation since N. Koreans are'nt excatly too squeamish about selling these kind of things..

Very good point EiZei. This US response to this will let Tehran (and the rest of the world) know what to expect if a country the west doesn't like acquires (or tries to) nuclear technology. That said i cant see USA invaiding N.Korea...

Biscuit

[Ginger_Biscuit 0]

Quote[/b] ]This is not your grandmother's scud we are talking about here.

Does anyone's grandmother have a scud!?  

I know mine doesn't  

Biscuit

[Ironsight 1]

Well... we've got the 747 with the Airborne Laser, the new missile defense systems installed in Alaska, and the US and Japan both have anti-missile missiles on their Aegis ships. Thats at least three options right there.

Look what they already dispatched:

Quote[/b] ]U.S. air force RC135S airborne intelligence platform, "Cobra Ball," taxies onto a runway for take off for unknown mission at Kadena airbase, Okinawa, Japan, early Monday, June 19, 2006. North Korea has apparently completed fueling a long-range missile that neighboring countries suspect is being prepared for a test launch, the Mainichi newspaper reported Monday. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

[hellfish6 7]

Thats just a SIGINT plane. Those things are always flying around NK.

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

Atleast we will never know what hit us

[EiZei 0]

Atleast we will never know what hit us

Quite the opposite, lethal radiation poisoning can take days or even weeks to finish you off and don't expect to get too many bone marrow transplants in those circumstances.

[echo1 0]

What would be the most likely consequences if they fire this missile? More sanctions and spyplanes? Or will the US take it to the next level? I doubt theyd invade over a test firing of a rocket, but maybe a cruise missile strike á la Afghanistan in 1998?

[Donnervogel 0]

erm attacking north korea that claims to have an A-Bomb and has for a long time already missiles that easily reach south korea and japan might not be a good idea

Unlike afghanistan they might make a "missile strike" of their own in return which would only provoke escalation of the conflict and as I see it none of the local powers (including USA) is ready for a war at the moment.

[walker 0]

Hi all

As I pointed out in another thread these are the consequneces of the political impotence of George Bush Junior and his NeoConMen cronie's Wolf crying on Iraq.

George Bush Junior must be America's only ever International Lame Duck President.

Sadly Walker

[hellfish6 7]

What would be the most likely consequences if they fire this missile? More sanctions and spyplanes? Or will the US take it to the next level? I doubt theyd invade over a test firing of a rocket, but maybe a cruise missile strike á la Afghanistan in 1998?

No way. Afghanistan wasn't a threat to anyone. North Korea is still a threat to the SKs, even if they could never win a war.

[scary 0]

What would be the most likely consequences if they fire this missile? More sanctions and spyplanes? Or will the US take it to the next level? I doubt theyd invade over a test firing of a rocket, but maybe a cruise missile strike á la Afghanistan in 1998?

I don't think there is much militarily that the US could do. They're too stretched for anything more than the most minor of ground campaigns and a missile strike on North Korea is a whole different kettle of fish than a strike on Afghanistan. The first problem is what do they target? The second, bigger, problem is, unlike Afghanistan, the DPRK has the potential and the will to strike back and that could lead the World down a path best avoided.

Militarily, the best route would probably be to attempt to knock it out of the sky but, despite all the hype about anti-missile systems, that could end up being an embarrassing failure, and if successful, there could still be reprisals. Any response is probably best left to Japan/Australia/New Zealand etc., with assistance from US forces in South Korea.

In reality, the most likely response would be political, and I don't think the DPRK will care too much about that. Expect to see an ICBM in the skies near you soon (if you live in the Far East).

[Ares1978 0]

What would be the most likely consequences if they fire this missile? More sanctions and spyplanes? Or will the US take it to the next level? I doubt theyd invade over a test firing of a rocket, but maybe a cruise missile strike á la Afghanistan in 1998?

More sanctions and spy planes. Direct action is extremely unlikely. Unlike the Taliban, they have slightly longer range than a Type 56 rifle.

Doesn't North Korea have any insurgents that the west could arm/create?

[Donnervogel 0]

Doesn't North Korea have any insurgents that the west could arm/create?

You'd have to start equipping them with food to prevent them from starving ;(