TOKYO — North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.

The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan's top-selling newspaper. It cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.

The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, given the North's propensity to launch on U.S. holidays. July 8 is also the anniversary of former leader's Kim Il Sung's death.

As of late Wednesday night, however, there was no satellite imagery suggesting North Korea had yet stacked or staged a Taepodong-2 missile at either the Dongchang-ni site on its northwest coast or at its Musudan-ni facility on its northeast coast.

Trains are regularly running from North Korea's Tongnim missile factory to both the northwest and northeast launch pads, but there is speculation by South Korean officials that some may be empty and designed to confuse foreign intelligence agencies which the North knows are watching from the skies.

While the newspaper speculated the Taepodong-2 could fly over Japan and toward Hawaii, it said the missile would not be able to hit Hawaii's main islands, which are about 4,500 miles from the Korean peninsula.

A spokesman for the Japanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report. South Korea's Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service — the country's main spy agency — said they could not confirm it.

Tension on the divided Korean peninsula has spiked since the North conducted its second nuclear test on May 25 in defiance of repeated international warnings. The regime declared Saturday it would bolster its nuclear programs and threatened war in protest of U.N. sanctions taken for the nuclear test.

U.S. officials have said the North has been preparing to fire a long-range missile capable of striking the western U.S. In Washington on Tuesday, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it would take at least three to five years for North Korea to pose a real threat to the U.S. west coast.

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met in Washington on Tuesday for a landmark summit in which they agreed to build a regional and global "strategic alliance" to persuade North Korea to dismantle all its nuclear weapons. Obama declared North Korea a "grave threat" to the world and pledged that the new U.N. sanctions on the communist regime will be aggressively enforced.

In Seoul, Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho told a forum Thursday that the North's moves to strengthen its nuclear programs is "a very dangerous thing that can fundamentally change" the regional security environment. He said the South Korean government is bracing for "all possible scenarios" regarding the nuclear standoff.

The independent International Crisis Group think tank, meanwhile, said the North's massive stockpile of chemical weapons is no less serious a threat to the region than its nuclear arsenal.

It said the North is believed to have between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including mustard gas, phosgene, blood agents and sarin. These weapons can be delivered with ballistic missiles and long-range artillery and are "sufficient to inflict massive civilian casualties on South Korea."

"If progress is made on rolling back Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, there could be opportunities to construct a cooperative diplomatic solution for chemical weapons and the suspected biological weapons program," the think tank said in a report released Thursday.

It also called on the U.S. to engage the North in dialogue to defuse the nuclear crisis, saying "diplomacy is the least bad option." The think tank said Washington should be prepared to send a high-level special envoy to Pyongyang to resolve the tension.

In a rare move, leaders of Russia and China used their meetings in Moscow on Wednesday to pressure the North to return to the nuclear talks and expressed "serious concerns" about tension on the Korean peninsula.

The joint appeal appeared to be a signal that Moscow and Beijing are growing impatient with Pyongyang's stubbornness. Northeastern China and Russia's Far East both border North Korea, and Pyongyang's unpredictable actions have raised concern in both countries.

After meetings at the Kremlin, Chinese President Hu Jintao joined Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in urging a peaceful resolution of the Korean standoff and the "swiftest renewal" of the now-frozen talks involving their countries as well as North and South Korea, Japan and the United States.

"Russia and China are ready to foster the lowering of tension in Northeast Asia and call for the continuation of efforts by all sides to resolve disagreements through peaceful means, through dialogue and consultations," their statement said.

The comments — contained in a lengthy statement that discussed other global issues — included no new initiatives, but it appeared to be carefully worded to avoid provoking Pyongyang. In remarks after their meetings, Medvedev made only a brief reference to North Korea, and Hu did not mention it.

South Korea's Lee said Wednesday in Washington that was essential for China and Russia to "actively cooperate" in getting the North to give up its nuclear program, suggesting the North's bombs program may trigger a regional arms race.

"If we acknowledge North Korea possessing nuclear programs, other non-nuclear countries in Northeast Asia would be tempted to possess nuclear weapons and this would not be helpful for stability in Northeast Asia," Lee said in a meeting with former U.S. officials and Korea experts, according to his office.

FOX News' Jennifer Griffin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.


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This message has been edited. Last edited by: mainedawg,

Extremely disturbing! It was stated that this administration would be tested. Never mind being made to look foolish by some miserable pirates, N.Korea & Iran defiantly challenge & threaten not only our allies, & Hawaii? What is the response to this, Nothing! If given a grade on its competence to defend this nation, it would be F! That is the oath you must swear to be commander in chief? To defend & protect the constitution & the United States? I remember taking that oath when i enlisted. Sorry i feel like I feel like I've awaken into a nightmare zone since 1-20-09. http://online.wsj.com/article/...535285705228571.html

Question about this. Should that missile land on any part of U.S. territory, wouldn't that be considered an act of war?

So if that missile falls to earth within 500 miles of Honolulu for example, there's a chain of atolls that stretches all the way out to Midway Island. That is Hawaiian territory. I believe Wake Island and Johnston Island are considered U.S. territory as well.

He really wants to go out with a boom doesn't he? A thermonuclear boom.

Really, the only real concern I have about this is how our current administration in the White House would handle this. I fear that the only result would be a finger wag and a warning, "don't do it again".

MESSAGE SENT!!!


USAF Launches Minuteman III Missile in Test

(Source: U.S Air Force; issued June 29, 2009)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --- Vandenberg Air Force Base officials launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile configured with a National Nuclear Security Administration test assembly from North Vandenberg at 3:01 a.m. PDT June 29.

The launch was an operational test to verify the weapon system's reliability and accuracy.

The missile carried three unarmed re-entry vehicles approximately 4,190 miles at speeds in excess of 24,000 mph to their predetermined targets near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Col. David Buck, the 30th Space Wing commander, was the mission's launch decision authority. Lt. Col. Lesa K. Toler, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, was the mission director for this test launch.

Throughout the preparation and execution of the mission, maintenance and operations task force personnel from the 91st Missile Wing out of Minot AFB, N.D., integrated with the 576th FLTS to perform operational tasks. Members of the 576th FLTS installed tracking, telemetry and command destruct systems on the missile to collect data and meet 30th Space Wing safety requirements.

"It's really something when you see a truly outstanding team come together," Colonel Buck said. "These are dangerous times we're living in right now. It's extremely important our combatant commander has the capabilities he needs to perform the mission of fighting and winning our nation's wars. Testing an operational asset pulled from the missile field at Minot provides us confidence our weapon system is capable of performing when needed."

The data collected will be used by the entire ICBM community, including the U.S. Strategic Command planners and Department of Energy laboratories.

-ends-

Hoorah for Vandenburg!

MDS has placed a newer system there in Hawaii recently! I have also had a conference with the cyber defense director and cyber leadership a week ago about constant DDOS style attacks coming from North Korea and Chinas hackers employed by the PLA. I am awating approval on my plans of methodology to thwart their cyber hacking, as it spreads all over the net when they are successfull from time to time.

Be forewarned, the North Korean propoganda says nucelar war is inevatable. I know the US Navy, MDS, and Vandenburg are doing their jobs well and efficiently in defense, but we may need to tread lightly since diplomats have been failing so regularly lately there. We are re-evaluating all diplomats of prior service in that region as well for several reasons...

We have far better technology that nukes (H-bombs). North Koreas Silly Il, as I call him, for good reason, is way to infatuated with missiles since being a child. As the 4th rolls around, we may need to keep the periscopes, sat lenses, and binoculars on. Last memorial day, the North obviously were thumbing their middle fingers at Americas servicemembers, with the underground nuke testing. I was up with Bronchitis that night and got a first responder alert from datamining and could not sleep all night as I was on steroid treatment(which kept me up), and I was not very pleased with N Koreas deviant behavior as I stayed on alert till morning writing in my first response reports. Later, when I got my first few responses of acknowledgement of the event horizon of the prior night, I finally got to sleep although still very exhausted and veryyyy sick and tired of Il myself. M
<EOM>

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07...html?ref=global-home

http://www.google.com/hostedne...p9KStLWUnAQD995BFLG0
==========================================

North Korea criticized the United States Monday for positioning missile defence systems around Hawaii, calling it a plot to attack the reclusive regime.

"Through the U.S. forces' clamorous movements, it has been brought to light that the U.S. attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on our republic has become a brutal fact," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said he ordered the ground-based, mobile missile intercept system and radar system to Hawaii over concerns the North would launch a long-range missile towards the state.

Rodong Sinmun also accused the U.S. of deploying an aircraft carrier and two submarines armed with nuclear warheads to the waters near the Korean Peninsula.

Here is another article you may want to read over pertaining to my last post paragraph I.
M <EOM>
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2...ber_force_announced/