Free Republic

North Korea recently announced the it has formed a Taepodong 1 missile division. This is another way of saying that they are ready to attack American bases in Japan and Guam. This is not a big problem for American troops. That's because the Taepodong 1 missile accuracy is several hundred meters (the radius of the circle the missile warhead is likely to land in). The Taepodong 1 was first launched in 1998, and went about 1,500 kilometers. Over the next decade, they got the range up to 3,000 kilometers. Missiles of the Taepodong class are really too expensive to use...

N. Korea says it can launch satellites anytime SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Sunday celebrated the 10th anniversary of the launch of Taepodong-1, the communist state's first self-claimed satellite rocket, declaring that it can do the same anytime. Taepodong-1 is a three-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile developed in North Korea and currently in service. The missile was derived originally from the Scud rocket and can allegedly serve as both a nuclear delivery system and a space launch vehicle. On Aug. 31, 1998, North Korea proudly announced that it had successfully launched its first satellite Kwangmyoungsong into orbit by...

The same North Korean ICBM efforts that throw a rock at Alaska can throw a large nuclear warhead at every ally the United States has in Northeast Asia. Japan and South Korea are not only close allies, they are critical trading partners. The risk of a war in this part of the world would inevitably threaten Chinese involvement in some form, and possible bloc trade with much of China for an extended period even if China did not become involved. Our troops and our bases in most of Asia would be at hazard as well. Americans need to stop thinking...

When it became clear that the Taepodong 2 missile North Korea test-launched early on July 4 had broken up less than a minute into flight and plunged into the Sea of Japan, many Americans felt a sense of relief. After all, the missile — belonging to a class that is thought capable of reaching the U.S. mainland — had failed, and Kim Jong Il had been embarrassed in the eyes of the world, if not those of the North Koreans who were told nothing of the test’s outcome. But an embarrassed menace is a menace nonetheless. Despite North Korea’s failure...

The US missile defense system was put to its first real test Tuesday and Wednesday with North Korea's launch of a long-range missile and a half dozen shorter range missiles. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he was on and off the phone with top US commanders almost continuously for days before the missile tests. "I received the notification of the launch of these missiles probably within of a minute of when they occurred," he told reporters before a meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Pentagon officials were circumspect, though, about how the multi-billion dollar missile defense system performed. "What...

TOKYO - A defiant North Korea test-fired a long-range missile Wednesday that may be capable of reaching America, but it failed seconds after launch, U.S. officials said. The North also tested four of shorter range in an exercise the White House termed "a provocation" but not an immediate threat. The audacious military tests by isolated communist nation came despite stern warnings from the United States and Japan — and carried out as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle. None of the missiles made it as far as Japan. The Japanese government said all landed...

most things about North Korea, little is known for certain about the Taepodong 2 missile. But there is no doubt North Korea does have a very long standing and pretty sophisticated missile programme. North Korea's intentions are under the global spotlight In 1998, before it began observing a moratorium on tests, North Korea launched a Taepodong 1 missile which passed over northern Japan and surprised Western intelligence agencies by the use of three stages in the missile's propulsion system. What is striking about the Taepodong 2 is that it could well be North Korea's first genuine intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)...

Washington Wants 6-Party Talks But Pyongyang Seeks Direct Channel North Korea appears to be intentionally creating a sense of crisis in order to turn the situation to its advantage by its apparent planned launch of a long-range ballistic missile, U.S. National Security Advisor Steve Hadley said on Tuesday. The U.S. presidential advisor's remarks came as a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan said North Korea could launch the missile ``anytime.'' In a self-defense measure, the Pentagon reportedly activated its missile defense shield. Hadley said it is difficult to interpret the North's motives. But he said history tells us why Pyongyang is trying...

WORLD IN BRIEF SEOUL -- North Korea is producing and deploying new intermediate ballistic missiles with a range of 1,800 to 2,500 miles, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry, putting within reach dozens of U.S. military installations in Japan and other parts of the Pacific region. The new type of missile has been widely reported in the South Korean and Japanese media for months, but a briefing Wednesday by South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young Kil to a parliamentary security commission was the first official acknowledgment of the weapon's existence. Analysts describe the missiles as having a range between North...