North Korea Fires Three Anti-Ship Missiles
May 30, 2008 :: News
North Korea again fired a salvo of short range missiles off its coast, with three rockets launched, according to the Yonhap news agency in South Korea. Little information was given about the type of the missile, but Itar Tass described them as ship-launched anti-ship missiles with a range of 45 km. Yonhap claimed that they were of a type made in the former Soviet Union. The South Korean Defense Ministry was also cited as saying that two of the three missiles missed their intended targets. North Korea last launched several missiles from its western coast in March. (Article, Link)
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North Korea Linked to Destroyed Syrian Nuclear Reactor
April 24, 2008 :: New York Times :: News
Today the White House will announce that the North Koreans had been working at a Syrian nuclear reactor until it was destroyed last September in an Israeli airstrike, reports the New York Times. This discovery, based on video evidence, comes after a seven-month clandestine investigation. U.S. and Israeli senior officials believe that the strike targeted a fledgling nuclear reactor modeled after the North Korean reactor used for attaining fuel for its weapons system.
The site was destroyed by Israeli jets on September 6. After protesting, the Syrians bulldozed the site and erected a building on the area formerly holding the reactor. They have routinely denied access to international nuclear weapons inspectors.
The State Department finds the White House’s timing in declassifying this information suspicious. Some have suggested that the administration’s declassification is aimed at undermining a deal with the North Koreans that would allow it to be removed from the list of nations sponsoring terrorism.
One senior White House official has said, off the record that, “Making public the pictures is likely to inflame the North Koreans. And that’s just what opponents of this whole arrangement want, because they think the North Koreans will stalk off.” Another official claims that perhaps this new information will force North Korea to more fully divulge its projects in Syria with the disclosure of details pertaining to its nuclear activities.
The deal in question is being brokered by the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Christopher R. Hill, who is acting as the primary liaison with North Korea, and has suddenly become the latest point of contention in a seven-year battle within the Bush Administration over foreign policy as it relates to North Korea. That policy has evolved from attempting to pressure North Korea in hopes of collapsing Kim Jong-il’s government, to negotiating with North Korea along with Russia, China, South Korea and Japan—each of whom has pursued a unique strategy in solving the problem of North Korea.
Christopher Hill was charged with the task of determining a new strategy for dealing with the North Koreans more than three years ago. With dwindling support, Hill has struggled, and senior officials have reported that President Bush has overtly admonished his aides against pursuing any policy that “makes [him] look weak.” Vice President Cheney’s office has argued that Hill’s proposal would be too big a concession—in exchange for a perfunctory declaration form the North Koreans regarding its plutonium production, it would be removed from the list of nations sponsoring terrorism and therefore no longer subject to economic sanctions under the Trading With the Enemy Act. Still, the North Koreans have failed to volunteer information pertaining to its involvement with Syria and its plans to begin building arms using uranium. Hill’s deal would allow the North Koreans to continue on in relative secrecy. It would allow them to leave unexplained its purchase of uranium enrichment materials from Pakistan—materials and equipment that experts believe was obtained to help North Korea engineer another road to a nuclear bomb if it were forced to abandon its plutonium program.
Today American intelligence officials will, in a presentation to members of Congress, show videos of Koreans working among employees at a Syrian plant. Mr. Hill has already shown this footage to senior South Korean officials. Other pictures illustrate what seems to be the construction of a reactor vessel inside the very building later destroyed in the Israeli strike of September.
Officials have heretofore refused to speak about the September attack. Christopher Hill has found little support among his colleagues, including his boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who has sharply criticized the 1994 agreement between North Korea and the Clinton Administration for its “front loaded” rewards system for the North. Critics are saying something very similar of Mr. Hill’s proposed deal. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Israel, Syria
North Korea Launches Short Range Rockets
March 28, 2008 :: CNN :: News
Numerous news agencies report today that North Korea has launched various short-range missiles off its western coast. The test comes a day after North Korean officials dissolved a group of experts gathered at a join industrial zone near the shared border. South Korean officials have excused the test as "merely part of [North Korea's] ordinary military training" rather than an overt attempt by Kim Jong-Il to publicize the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula. (Article, Link)
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Iranian Commander Acknowledges Use of North Korean Scuds
November 30, 2006 :: Jane's Information Group :: Analysis
Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently acknowledged that the IRGC had procured Scud-B and Scud-C short-range ballistic missiles from North Korea during the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980s, reports David C. Isby in Jane’s Missiles and Rockets. While the supply of these missiles has been known for years, “the fact that a high-level official has drawn public attention to Iran’s missile-related relationship with North Korea may be significant.” In the past, Iran has frequently stressed that its weapon developments have been indigenous, even when this was patently not the case. “The new acknowledgement of past co-operation may reflect current indebtedness to North Korean technology in the development of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile or even weapons of mass destruction,” writes Isby (Link)
» More stories on: Proliferation, North Korea, Iran, Analysis
Hackett on North Korea, Missile Defense
October 11, 2006 :: Washington Times :: Analysis
The Bush administration is handling North Korea’s nuclear brinksmanship “just right,” argues James Hackett in The Washington Times. It has reacted without histrionics, demanded action by the world community, applied a widening circle of economic sanctions, worked with allies to present a united front, and strengthened missiles defenses. Hackett notes that the North Korean test demonstrates “the folly of those who want to delay deployment of [missile] defenses while conducting interminable flight tests.” He argues that the Bush administration should accelerate deployment of additional ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptors in Japan and South Korea, and ship-based interceptors on U.S. and Japanese Aegis destroyers in the Pacific and Sea of Japan. “The combination of a united front against Pyongyang and the strengthening of missile defenses around the Pacific can keep North Korea isolated while the united front increases sanctions to push the regime toward collapse,” Hackett writes. “It is important to stay the course and ignore those who call for direct negotiations and other concessions.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: South Korea, Nuclear Weapons, North Korea, Japan, Analysis
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Yomiuri Shimbun: New Threat Calls for New Defense Initiative
October 11, 2006 :: Yomiuri Shimbun :: News
The Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun suggests that North Korea’s nuclear test will lead to calls for a new Japanese defense initiative, including increased missile defense and perhaps a preemptive strike capability. It notes that North Korea has deployed about 200 No-dong missiles capable of striking most of the Japanese archipelago, and has tested them as recently as July 2006. Although most experts believe that North Korea remains unable to develop nuclear warheads small enough to be carried by these missiles, the Yomiuri Shimbun points out that the relatively small seismic waves observed after the recent nuclear test may indicate that North Korea is trying to decrease the size its nuclear bombs. The paper suggests that calls for the “early development of missile defense” and “ability to attack missile bases in North Korea preemptively” are likely to gain strength in coming months. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Nuclear Weapons, North Korea, Japan
» Missile details: No-dong 1, NHK-1/2
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Congressman Duncan Hunter Letter to President Calls for Immediate Programmatic Additions to Missile Defenses
October 10, 2006 :: U.S. House of Representatives :: News
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, yesterday sent an important letter to President George Bush calling for immediate programmatic additions to U.S. missile defenses. Such systems, he stated, should be “capable of addressing the full range of North Korean missile-based threats to the United States, our deployed forces, and our allies.” First and foremost, the U.S. must “accelerate further the schedule for fielding Aegis ballistic missile defense capabilities,” either solely Standard Missile-3 interceptors or an appropriate combination of both SM-2 and SM-3 interceptors. Second, the U.S. must “maintain an optimal air defense capability on the peninsula” by deploying sufficient numbers of ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) systems. Third, the U.S. must “accelerate the deployment of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities,” focusing on Northeast Asia. Congressman Hunter offered to serve as an advocate in Congress for any reprogramming requests submitted by the White House to carry out these critical national security objectives.
The Congressman’s recommendations are similar to those put forth by the Independent Working Group in its recent report, Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century, which strongly advocates the expansion of sea-based missile defenses, as well as the strengthening of missile defense collaboration with vital allies such as Japan.
Full text of Duncan Hunter letter to President Bush: (More »»»)
» Read the 2007 report: The Independent Working Group on Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century (8 MB)
» More stories on: Policy, North Korea, Japan
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Congressman Trent Franks Calls for Robust Defenses Following North Korean Nuclear Test
October 10, 2006 :: U.S. House of Representatives :: News
Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, yesterday called for robust missile defenses in light of North Korea’s recent nuclear test. “We must learn from Kim Jong Il’s defiance and realize the imminent threat that we face,” the Congressman stated. “We are still without a robust missile defense, our enemies continue searching for ways to destroy our country, and I’m afraid that if a country like Iran acquires these weapons their use would change the face of freedom forever.” Franks pointed out “the fact that much of this could have been handled years ago before North Korea acquired nuclear weapons.” When former President Bill Clinton was faced by the potential of a nuclear North Korea, his administration chose to appease Kim Jong Il with light water reactors and fuel oil shipments. Simultaneously, Clinton vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, which would have required the deployment of a missile defense system capable of defending all 50 states. Clinton at the time had argued that, “by forcing such an unwarranted deployment decision now, the bill would waste tens of billions of dollars and force [the U.S.] to commit prematurely to a specific technological option.” In his remarks yesterday, Franks reminded Americans that “history is a guide for the wise in order to protect our children and our children’s children. Let us learn from the mistakes of the past. We must strive to understand the mission of our enemy and realize the ominous threat they pose to freedom-loving nations.”
Full text of Trent Franks press release: (More »»»)
» More stories on: Policy, North Korea
North Korea Conducts First Nuclear Test
October 9, 2006 :: Reuters :: News
North Korea today conducted an underground nuclear test, transforming Pyongyang into the world’s newest and most volatile nuclear power. The South Korean government informed U.S. officials that the explosion, registering 3.58 on the Richter scale, took place at 10:36 a.m. local time (1:36 a.m. GMT). Minutes later, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency announced the test, calling it “a historical event that has brought our military and our people huge joy.” The announcement continued: “The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent. … It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it.” Measurements by the Japan Meteorological Agency showed that the test took place around Gilju, on the country’s northeast coast and around 110 km (70 miles) from the Chinese border. The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed a 4.2 magnitude tremor in North Korea at 10:35 a.m. local time. The White House branded the act “provocative” and said it expected the U.N. Security Council to take immediate action. Analysts have said that North Korea probably has enough fissile material to make six to eight nuclear bombs. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Testing - Foreign, Nuclear Weapons, North Korea
North Korea Vows Nuclear Test
October 3, 2006 :: Reuters :: News
North Korea said today that it will soon conduct its first-ever nuclear test, reports Reuters. According to a statement from North Korea’s foreign ministry, which was broadcast on the official KCNA news agency, “the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering nuclear deterrent, as a corresponding measure for defense.” The statement added, however, that North Korea would never be the first to use nuclear weapons, and would “do its utmost to realize the denuclearization of the peninsula and give impetus to the world-wide nuclear disarmament and the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons.” Analysts say that North Korea probably has enough fissile material to produce six to eight nuclear bombs, but does not yet have the technology to make one small enough to mount on a long range ballistic missile. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Testing - Foreign, Nuclear Weapons, North Korea
