"North Korea could be preparing for new launches of mid-range missiles following last week's tests, with activity detected at its bases, a report has said citing Japanese government sources."
Something to be on the lookout for.
The situation in North Korea is serious for both the short and the long term. Short term, our ability to defend against missiles from North Korea is not very good.
The U.S. Missile Defense system is tenuous at best. Largely untested, there are only 11 silo-housed strategic interceptors spread in California and Alaska. The U.S. Navy compliments this basic, initial capability with handfuls of missiles at sea -- but those interceptors were built to handle shorter range threats than the Taepo Dong-2 that North Korea is trying to bring from puberty to adult fruition.
Completing the U.S. layered, multi-service, multi-sensor and multi-interceptor-type system will still be a monumental task both in terms of time and money. This is one of the big long-term efforts that has to go forward.
Maybe now, more people will understand the value of missile defense. Without it, all we can do is diplomatig or an air strike.