I wonder if they could put some strap on boosters on the Taepodong missle to extend the range?
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Posted on 06/18/2006 11:12:39 PM PDT by rhainw
Repeats to fix transmission error)
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, June 19 (Reuters) - The United States and Japan warned North Korea against a missile launch as officials said the secretive communist state appeared to have completed fuelling for a test flight that could possibly reach as far as Alaska.
South Korean broadcaster YTN cited officials in Seoul as saying a launch could come on Monday.
Speculation that Pyongyang would fire its Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile at the weekend came to nothing, and forecasts of overcast skies over North Korea and possible showers on Tuesday and Wednesday could delay it.
Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Shinzo Abe, said a missile test would be a threat to regional security, while U.S. officials said Washington had sent a warning to Pyongyang through North Korean diplomats at the United Nations, but had had no response.
Australia, one of the few Western counties with diplomatic links to North Korea, summoned Pyongyang's ambassador in Canberra to express its concerns.
"Such action would be highly provocative and would further isolate the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement.
"We are working closely with our allies and friends to try and persuade North Korea not to proceed with a test. We are also discussing contingencies should a test firing occur."
Japan has said it would seek an immediate meeting of the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang test-fired a missile, and on Monday Abe left open the possibility of sanctions.
Pyongyang shocked the world in 1998 when it fired a missile, part of which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean.
Tension over the prospect of another launch -- in spite of Pyongyang's promise in 1999 to adhere to a moratorium on ballistic missile launches -- added to downward pressure on the Japanese yen, Korean won and Taiwan dollar on Monday morning.
FUELLED UP
Reports of test preparations have come at a time of stalemate in six-country talks on unwinding Pyongyang's nuclear programmes.
Some analysts believe North Korea, piqued that international attention has shifted to concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and angered at a U.S. crackdown that has frozen hard currency income from alleged illegal activities such as counterfeiting, will carry out the test.
U.S. officials have watched with alarm as satellite photos showing launch preparations at the Musudan-ri facility in North Hamgyong province in North Korea's northeast.
Officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Sunday they believed the fuelling process was complete.
And in Seoul, across the heavily fortified border dividing the two Koreas, the daily Dong-A Ilbo quoted a Seoul government official as saying the launch could be imminent.
"We think North Korea has poured liquid fuel into the missile propellant built in the missile launching pad. It is at the finishing stage before launching," the official said.
A test is expected to involve a Taepodong-2 missile with an estimated range of 2,175 to 2,670 miles (3,500 to 4,300 km). At that range, parts of Alaska in the United States would be within reach as well as Asia and Russia.
North Korea lacks an operational missile that can hit the continental United States, the California-based Center for Nonproliferation Studies said in a recent report.
The U.S. officials said Pyongyang could still decide to scrap the launch, but that was unlikely given the complexity of siphoning fuel back out of a missile prepared for launch.
Some experts say that if there is no launch within 48 hours of fuelling, the fuel will break down and damage the missile.
But Cho Min, an expert on the North at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification, said fuel in the missile could stay up to a month without causing major problems. (Additional reporting by Carol Giacomo in WASHINGTON, Jon Herskovitz and Jack Kim in SEOUL and Michelle Nichols in CANBERRA)
So weather won't cooperate. Kim Jong-il, the living god, had better pray to the bigger god up there.:)
Is there a certain time of day that's best for these kind of launches?
No link yet since it was Drudge's radio show, but Howard Kurtz was the guest and he reports it is under serious consideration for the US ABM shield to try to shoot the NK rocket down. I don't see that actually happening, but for what it's worth.
I wonder if they could put some strap on boosters on the Taepodong missle to extend the range?
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I've not followed this issue very closely of late. Something was posted about the NK raising flags "today:" US Relative Time by my immediate interpretation. Apparently nothing happened today aside from all these articles which were based on prior information. Did I miss something?
Thanks and goodnight.
Using electronic warfare to jam the guidance system would be helpful. Just turn the missile back on North Korea.
Either the Reuters writer is a poor writer or North Korea has a missle that can do tricks. If part of the missile flew over Japan, what was the rest of it doing?
We ought to use it as a test target for one of our new interceptors.
Be worth it just to watch em blow a gasket over it.
Fall in the ocean before getting to Japan, maybe?
What do you suppose happened to the rest them, the parts that didn't land on the moon?
He's a poor writer, but he's technically correct if it's a multistage missile. Parts of the missile separate (and tumble down to earth or parachute back, depending on design or intent) as their fuel is expended, and the next stage fires up - just like the old Saturn rockets we used to launch the moon missions. It's done to reduce the dead weight as the fuel burns off, allowing for greater range/altitude.
The Taepo-dong 2 is a two or three stage missile, depending on what variant they're using. If it's a three stager, it's likely based on and roughly equivalent to the Soviet SS5. This is also the basis of the Shahab-5 and Shahab-6 of Iran.
The Taepo-dong 1 is also or two or three stage missile, again depending on what version they're using. The 2 stager is roughly equivalent to the Soviet SS-4. The three stager is the basis for the Iranian Shahab-4.
I doubt it'll happen either, but boy, would I love it if it did.
If the little fat boy hired a Jihadist from a local mosk to do the wiring, it'll blow up on the launch pad.
Is this a Russian or a Chinese design?
That was not Howard Kurtz, the media analyst. It was Bill Goertz of the Washington Times, a very tapped in security analyst.
Good opportunity to test our ballistic missile defense systems.
Hence, it was Bill Clinton and the democrats who fully armed North Korea with nuclear bombs.
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