6 Missiles launched from N.Korea

A national day “ gift “ to Yankees

6 Missiles Fired by North Korea; Tests Protested

Published: July 5, 2006
(Page 2 of 2)
But it is far from clear that China — which provides the North with its oil and much of its food — would go along with any move for sanctions. As one central figure in American policymaking told visiting Asian officials late last month, “the Chinese are very worried about collapse,” and likely would try to prevent that form happening.
The firing ended weeks of speculation about the intentions of Pyongyang, which had rolled out the Taepodong 2, its new long-range missile, in full view of American spy satellites, and came despite severe warnings from the United States and countries in this region that a test would entail further isolation and sanctions. The first missile was fired around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Japanese government.
American officials said they believe the Taepodong 2 was the third missile fired, with the U.S. Northern Command saying that it was launched at 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
American and Japanese officials immediately condemned the launchings. But American officials had never considered it a serious threat to the United States, especially because there was no evidence the missile was equipped with a warhead. Mr. Bush’s spokesman, Tony Snow, only went so far as to call the launching “provocative behavior.”
The Japanese government said it would take “severe actions” against the North, possibly including economic sanctions. Those could include shutting down the ferry service to North Korea and attempting to stem the flow of the transfer of cash to the North from Koreans in Japan, though officials acknowledge that would be difficult.
At the United Nations, John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador, was “urgently consulting” with other members of the Security Council to try to schedule a meeting of the panel, according to his spokesman, Richard A. Grenell. Later in the evening, it was announced that the Council would meet to take up the matter at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the request of Japan. Mr. Hadley acknowledged that “what we really don’t have a fix on is, you know, what’s the intention of all this, what is the purpose of all this? ” He noted it was a violation of North Korea’s previous pledges to hold to a moratorium on missile tests.
He said one possibility was that the North was attempting to seize the spotlight from Iran, whose efforts to develop its nuclear program — which is years behind North Korea’s nuclear abilities — had grabbed all the headlines. But he noted that “it’s hard to get a sense on what they think is to be achieved by this.”
It was also unclear why it fired short- and mid-range missiles, which it has tested successfully in the past and of which it is said to own several hundred.
“One theory is that they knew that there was a probability that things with the Taepodong 2 wouldn’t work, so it was good to fire off a few missiles that would actually work,” said a senior Bush administration official, who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak about this issue.
In 1998, the last time the North tested a missile outside its territory, Pyongyang fired the Taepodong 1, which flew over Japan before falling into the sea. That test set off a negative reaction in the region, especially in Japan, which responded by strengthening its military capabilities and its alliance with the United States.
Wednesday morning’s tests are likely to increase calls inside Japan to strengthen its missile defense efforts with the United States, and could increase support for hawkish candidates in the race to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who is scheduled to retire in September.
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, who is the leading candidate to succeed Mr. Koizumi and who has gained popularity in recent years by being tough on North Korea and China, said the tests were “a serious problem from the standpoint of our national security, peace and stability of the international community and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
The tests are sure to anger China — which expended considerable diplomatic prestige in pressing the North not to go ahead with the launching and to rejoin the six-nation talks — and raise doubts anew about the real extent of Beijing’s influence on Pyongyang. The Chinese foreign ministry said it had no comment to make yet on the launching.
In South Korea, whose government publicly urged the North not to test-fire but privately played down the risk, opponents of the government’s engagement policy toward the North might gain support in presidential elections next year.
Intelligence from American satellite photographs indicated in mid-June that the North was proceeding with the test-firing of the Taepodong 2 at a launching pad on North Korea’s remote east coast. Satellite photographs showed that the North Koreans had taken steps to put fuel into the missile, but the missile sat there until Wednesday morning, leading to speculation that the North was simply staging the event in order to gain attention from the United States.
American officials had suggested that they might use missile defense to shoot down the Taepodong 2 in midair. Bad weather in this region was said to have delayed the launching, because poor visibility would prevent the North from tracking its missile.
But the North contradicted expert opinion by launching its long-range missile in predawn darkness today.
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