North Korea to Launch ICBM at 5:00am (World Cup time) by Todd Brendan Fahey
(Seoul) - Reports via mainstream media, military and undisclosed sources signal an imminent launch of a Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile at approximately 5:00am Greenwich Mean Time--to coincide with the South Korea's World Cup match against France.
The range of North Korea's ICBM is unknown. According to GlobalSecurity.org, the 3-stage device is estimated to travel between 4,000 and 15,000 kilometers--the outer distances putting it within easy striking range of Alaska and Hawaii.
Military sources tell SiaNews that: "USS Lake Erie, the SM3 test ship, is supposedly somewhere near Hawaii (though I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it's been repositioned).
As of 15 Feb, USS Shiloh was supposed to take up station off Japan 'later this year,' and she was supposed to have been rearmed with SM3s. According to the Navy, she's supposed to be deployed there in August 2006 - which explains why Kim Jong Il decided to go now before the SM3 arrives to ruin his day.
We currently have USS Vandegrift (FFG 48) and USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) in the area, with the capability to datalink to our ground based interceptors at Vandenberg (CA) and Fort Greeley (AL). We have at least ten ground based interceptors deployed and ready to go. However, mass production is ramping up and we're going to have even more soon."
Another source, citing Japan Maritime Self Defense Force reports, writes: "U.S. Navy surveillance ship is also out of Sasebo, Japan. Aegis destroyers are deployed. Cobra Ball is up and running [http://meta.cdn.yahoo-streaming.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20060617-00000014-nnn-soci-movie-000&media=wm300k]."
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency is reporting that the United States is considering shooting down the Taepodong-2 ICBM upon launch.
In 1998, North Korea fired a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile over northern Japan, its legitimacy based on a claim of a satellite launch. Japan reportedly dispatched, in response, two Aegis destroyers to encircle North Korea.
Defense analyst Harold C. Hutchison writes: "Japan and the United States are both fielding the SM-3 missile, which has already proven it can intercept incoming ballistic missiles. The SM-2, also in use by both the U.S. Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, recently carried out a successful intercept of a ballistic missile in the terminal phase. Both Japan and the United States also use land-based Patriot PAC-3 missiles. The result is a multi-layered system that will be able to blunt any North Korean attack."
According to news reports, Japan¡¯s Foreign Minister Taro Aso and US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer met on Saturday evening to discuss the potential ICBM launch.
South Korea media has been unsurprisingly quiet on the issue, with former President Kim Dae-jung about to meet for a second time with North Korean (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-Il, toward "unification talks."
The former South Korean President won a year-2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his summit efforts with the DPRK dictator--only to have it revealed that he had funneled US$400,000,000 into North Korea, via a Macao, China-based bank, to pave the way for his "peace efforts." Kim Dae-jung went into a long period of silence, following his exit from the Presidency, and ducked investigations into the money-laundering scheme--which he quietly admitted--by claiming ill-health.
South Korea's current leftist administration has, to date, not pressed ex-President Kim on the scheme, and no charges have ever been filed. [Note: SiaNews, in a five-part series, broke the story of Kim Dae-jung's treason in 2004: http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1609]
The Macao-based bank which processed money from South Korea's Hyundai Corp., on orders of Kim Dae-jung, is one of the North Korean institutions currently under U.S. and international sanctions for its efforts to assist the DPRK.
With the U.S. economy linked inextricably to China, via dollar reserves held, and with China the de-facto controller of North Korea, DPRK "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il figures probably that he holds a free pass on any ICBM launch--and which will almost certainly be claimed as a harmless satellite dispatch. With enough short-range artillery aimed at Seoul to level the capitol of South Korea within 90 minutes, he knows that the U.S. will continue to tread lightly via the 6-party negotiation talks. Each day that passes brings strength to his bluff, breeds further misery to his nation's serfs and, unlike Iraq, verified weapons of mass destruction.
Even isolationist Old Right voices of America are worried about this World Cup blast.
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Original Investigative Journalism from the
Columnist Guild News Bureau
The range of North Korea's ICBM is unknown. According to GlobalSecurity.org, the 3-stage device is estimated to travel between 4,000 and 15,000 kilometers--the outer distances putting it within easy striking range of Alaska and Hawaii.
Military sources tell SiaNews that: "USS Lake Erie, the SM3 test ship, is supposedly somewhere near Hawaii (though I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it's been repositioned).
As of 15 Feb, USS Shiloh was supposed to take up station off Japan 'later this year,' and she was supposed to have been rearmed with SM3s. According to the Navy, she's supposed to be deployed there in August 2006 - which explains why Kim Jong Il decided to go now before the SM3 arrives to ruin his day.
We currently have USS Vandegrift (FFG 48) and USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) in the area, with the capability to datalink to our ground based interceptors at Vandenberg (CA) and Fort Greeley (AL). We have at least ten ground based interceptors deployed and ready to go. However, mass production is ramping up and we're going to have even more soon."
Another source, citing Japan Maritime Self Defense Force reports, writes: "U.S. Navy surveillance ship is also out of Sasebo, Japan. Aegis destroyers are deployed. Cobra Ball is up and running [http://meta.cdn.yahoo-streaming.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20060617-00000014-nnn-soci-movie-000&media=wm300k]."
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency is reporting that the United States is considering shooting down the Taepodong-2 ICBM upon launch.
In 1998, North Korea fired a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile over northern Japan, its legitimacy based on a claim of a satellite launch. Japan reportedly dispatched, in response, two Aegis destroyers to encircle North Korea.
Defense analyst Harold C. Hutchison writes: "Japan and the United States are both fielding the SM-3 missile, which has already proven it can intercept incoming ballistic missiles. The SM-2, also in use by both the U.S. Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, recently carried out a successful intercept of a ballistic missile in the terminal phase. Both Japan and the United States also use land-based Patriot PAC-3 missiles. The result is a multi-layered system that will be able to blunt any North Korean attack."
According to news reports, Japan¡¯s Foreign Minister Taro Aso and US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer met on Saturday evening to discuss the potential ICBM launch.
South Korea media has been unsurprisingly quiet on the issue, with former President Kim Dae-jung about to meet for a second time with North Korean (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-Il, toward "unification talks."
The former South Korean President won a year-2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his summit efforts with the DPRK dictator--only to have it revealed that he had funneled US$400,000,000 into North Korea, via a Macao, China-based bank, to pave the way for his "peace efforts." Kim Dae-jung went into a long period of silence, following his exit from the Presidency, and ducked investigations into the money-laundering scheme--which he quietly admitted--by claiming ill-health.
South Korea's current leftist administration has, to date, not pressed ex-President Kim on the scheme, and no charges have ever been filed. [Note: SiaNews, in a five-part series, broke the story of Kim Dae-jung's treason in 2004: http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1609]
The Macao-based bank which processed money from South Korea's Hyundai Corp., on orders of Kim Dae-jung, is one of the North Korean institutions currently under U.S. and international sanctions for its efforts to assist the DPRK.
With the U.S. economy linked inextricably to China, via dollar reserves held, and with China the de-facto controller of North Korea, DPRK "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il figures probably that he holds a free pass on any ICBM launch--and which will almost certainly be claimed as a harmless satellite dispatch. With enough short-range artillery aimed at Seoul to level the capitol of South Korea within 90 minutes, he knows that the U.S. will continue to tread lightly via the 6-party negotiation talks. Each day that passes brings strength to his bluff, breeds further misery to his nation's serfs and, unlike Iraq, verified weapons of mass destruction.
Even isolationist Old Right voices of America are worried about this World Cup blast.
Original Investigative Journalism from the
Columnist Guild News Bureau
