In ‘Provocation,’ North Korea Fires Missiles
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TOKYO – A defiant North Korea test-fired a long-range missile today that may be capable of reaching America, but it failed seconds after launch, American officials said. The North also tested four shorter-range missiles in an exercise the White House called “a provocation” but not an immediate threat.
Ignoring stern American and Japanese warnings, the isolated communist nation carried out the audacious military tests even as Americans celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that as many as 10 missiles altogether may have been launched, but officials could not confirm the number.
None of the missiles made it as far as Japan. The Japanese government said all landed in the Sea of Japan between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
“We do consider it provocative behavior,” the national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said.
Japan protested the tests and called for a U.N. Security Council meeting.
“We will take stern measures,” the chief government spokesman, Shinzo Abe, said, adding that sanctions were a possibility. He said the launch violated a long-standing moratorium, and that Tokyo was not given prior notification by Pyongyang.
President Bush has been in consultation with Mr. Hadley, Secretary of State Rice, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. Ms. Rice will confer with her counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, the State Department said.
Mr. Hadley said the long-range missile was the Taepodong-2, which failed 35 seconds after launch. Experts believe the Taepodong-2 – Korea’s most advanced missile with a range of up to 9,320 miles – could reach America with a light payload.
The State Department said the smaller missiles include Scuds and Rodongs. The Scuds are short-range and could target South Korea. The Rodong has a range of about 620 miles and could target Japan.
The launch came after weeks of speculation that the North was preparing to test the Taepodong-2 from a site on its northeast coast. The preparations had generated warnings from America and Japan, which had threatened possible economic sanctions in response.
