Missile Extortion Goes On, Gates Hints at Taepodong Shootdown, Worthlessness of U.N. Again on Display
Chinese fishing vessels have vanished from the region of the Yellow Sea near the Northern Limit Line, which means that the North may be preparing to test a few short-range missiles. The North’s preparations to test a long-range Taepodong II also continue. The likely launch site now looks to be Musudan-ri on the East coast, not the new West coast site I published images of here. According to the Chosun Ilbo, the missile has now arrived at the launch site.
Secretary of State Clinton, in Asia this week, delivered this iron writ of deterrence against an act that would be a flagrant violation of two (ho hum) U.N. Security Council Resolutions:
“We are hopeful that some of the behaviour that we have seen coming from North Korea in the last few weeks is not a precursor of any action that would up the ante or threaten the stability and peace and security of the neighbours in the region,” Clinton told reporters in Washington on Tuesday. [Reuters, via IHT]
Defense Secretary Robert Gates did better at a press conference in Washington, when he was asked about options if the North Korean missile were launched in our direction:
When asked if the U.S. military is prepared to shoot down the North’s missile if it’s fired toward U.S. territory, he said doing so is “an option. “I certainly intend to make sure that my colleagues – the secretary of state, national security adviser, president and vice president – understand what our capabilities are, and that that’s an option out there should … we deem it necessary. [Joongang Ilbo]
South Korea’s reaction has been refreshingly serious. In addition to being on alert for any military provocations, it’s trying to mend its relations with America and moving cautiously toward increasing its diplomatic cooperation with Japan, its emotional enemy and natural ally.
“Cooperation among Japan, South Korea and the United States is crucial to resolving the North Korea issue,” Nakasone said in a joint press conference. “When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Japan and South Korea, we will coordinate how to forge cooperation among the three countries based on what was discussed in the meeting today. [Joongang Ilbo]
Its Foreign Minister is also threatening to impose sanctions if the North actually goes through with the test:
“Such a behavior by North Korea will lead only to its isolation,” the minister said in his monthly press briefing. If North Korea fires the missile, Yu said, it would constitute a clear breach of U.N. resolutions 1795 and 1718, adopted after the communist nation’s missile and nuclear tests in 2006.
“I would like to use this opportunity to say again that given the the vast sanctions …(conducting a launch) is anything but in the interest of North Korea,” he said. [Yonhap]
The actual resolutions are 1695 and 1718, but Yu has the general idea right. Those resolutions would, in theory, allow for some stiff sanctions against the palace economy, if anyone ever implemented them. Even so, it’s a glorious thing to see adults in charge again in South Korea, at least with respect to its foreign policy.