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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54801
Pentagon Spokesman Expresses Hope North Korea Won’t Test UN Resolution
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 16, 2009 – The United States and its international partners have the assets and authorities needed to carry out a UN Security Council resolution aimed at stopping North Korea’s proliferation activities, but the Pentagon press secretary expressed hope today North Korea won’t put them to the test.
“Hopefully it does not become necessary” to enforce provisions of UN Security Council 1874, Geoff Morrell told Pentagon reporters today. “Hopefully the north will be fully compliant with the Security Council resolution that bans their shipment of a number of goods, including arms.”
The Security Council passed the resolution unanimously June 12, condemning North Korea’s May 25 nuclear test and tightening sanctions aimed at blocking further nuclear, missile and proliferation activities. The resolution widened a ban on North Korea’s arms imports and exports and called on the international community to inspect cargo to or from North Korea suspected of violating its provisions.
“So we continue, as we have for some time, to monitor the North Korean shipments,” Morrell said today. “Should there be reasonable grounds to believe that one of those ships is carrying banned cargo, we have the authorities under the Security Council resolution to take action.”
Such action, should it be warranted, would begin with a request to the North Korean government – not the suspect ship – for a compliant boarding to inspect the ship, he explained. In the event that request is denied, the U.N. Security Council would be informed. The next step would be a request to the North Korean government, asking that it direct the ship into a convenient port to be boarded and inspected.
The resolution, particularly the fact that it passed unanimously, demonstrates the broad international commitment to working together to stop North Korea from proliferating weapons of mass destruction, he said.
“So this is not just about what we can or have been able to do or will be able to do,” Morrell said. “This is about a commitment, on the part of all of our allies, to deal with this problem collectively.”
By working together to prevent the North Koreans from proliferating weapons of mass destruction and other arms, the international community will eliminate a revenue source that sustains the North Korean regime and its ability to pursue its nuclear and ballistic program.
“This has been a main source of revenue for the North for quite some time, and we want to put a stop to it,” Morrell said.
Meanwhile, the resolution will help “prevent that kind of technology from being spread to other countries and other non-state actors where it could pose a threat to us and our allies,” he said.
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2274205/posts
North Korea may fire missile toward Hawaii
Associated Press ^ | 6/17/2009 | Shino Yuasa
Posted on June 17, 2009 10:45:37 PM PDT by America2012
TOKYO — North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese newspaper said Thursday, amid escalating tensions between the communist country and the United States over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.
The missile, believed to be a long-range Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), would be launched from North Korea’s Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan’s top-selling newspaper. The report cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.
The Yomiuri said the Taepodong-2 could fly over Japan and toward Hawaii, but that it would not be able to hit the main islands of Hawaii, which lie about 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) from the Korean peninsula.
The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, the paper said. It noted that North Korea had fired its first Taepodong-2 missile on July 4, 2006. Also, July 8 is the anniversary of the 1994 death of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.