It think the idea would be to intercept and destroy shortly after liftoff from the pad because of the elevation and speed factors, mabye two or three minutes into flight if possible, but still a) might be well out of range of such action, and b) a ROK or US Aegis in the Yellow Sea doing such a thing successfully would be subject to a torpedo attack by DPRK subs which are now out and about as we speak.
Michael Savage has been saying for years that they should just take the whole thing out right on the launch pad while all the dignitaries are there picking their noses.
Certainly, the North Koreans will try something. Artillery attacks on SK islands, sub attacks along the coast, but nothing that would start an outright war with SK & the USA.
I believe that NK would lose such a war badly, & NK knows it. Their military is decrepit, starving & demoralized just like the general population. The leadership is spoiled, fat, lazy, corrupt, old, & militarily inept. The last thing they want is to see their palaces shattered & their lifestyles destroyed. In any protracted conflict, which I doubt, all of NK would simply starve to death.
Given this, CHINA will not allow NK to start a war that ends with a reunited, democratic Korea.
Frankly, I don't believe Obama will try to shoot the missile down. He hates the military & would avoid any opportunity for them to shine. He has a lot of purging left to do in the military before they become HIS military.
Too, he likes to keep the people's stress level high. Stress causes mistakes, like in the polling booth. A NK missile headed toward Hawaii is a great public distraction from his many failures. Shooting down the NK missile would be Politically Incorrect. Endless talk in the face of repeated provocation is the PC way.
So, you don’t think USN or ROK ASW is up to the task of neutralizing Nork subs?