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DPRK missile: US ups defense ante
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-20 08:08 SEOUL: The United States says it has deployed anti-missile defenses around Hawaii, following reports that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is preparing to fire its most advanced ballistic missile in that direction to coincide with the US Independence Day holiday next month. Last week, DPRK vowed to bolster its nuclear arsenal and threatened war to protest UN sanctions in the wake of its May 25 nuclear test. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that the military has set up additional defenses around Hawaii, consisting of a ground-based mobile missile system and a radar system nearby. Together they could shoot an incoming missile in mid air. "Without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say ... we are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect Americans and American territory," Gates told reporters in Washington. Gates' comments come after Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported that DPRK might test fire a Taepodong-2 missile with a range of up to 6,500 km, sometime around the US holiday of Independence Day on July 4. Yomiuri said the missile, which could be launched from DPRK's Tongchang-ri site, would fly over Japan but would not be able to reach Hawaii, which is about 7,200 km from the Korean peninsula. A spokesman for the Japanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on Yomiuri's report, which cited an analysis by Japan's Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by US reconnaissance satellites. Seoul rules out wage hike The Republic of Korea (ROK) on Friday rejected DPRK's demand for a massive increase in wages and rent at a joint industrial park, the last remaining project between the two nations struggling to stay afloat over deepening differences. The officials met for several hours at the industrial park in the DPRK border town of Kaesong, that has over 100 ROK factories. At the last two rounds of talks, Pyongyang ignored Seoul's demand for the release of a worker who was detained by DPRK in March. DPRK refuses to talk about anything other than its demands, which currently are a four-fold increase in wages for its 40,000 workers and a 3,000 percent hike in rent for the site. On Friday, ROK officials pressed for the release of the worker, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said. "The top priority is the issue of the release of our worker who has been detained for more than 80 days," ROK's chief delegate at the talks, Kim Young-tak, said. AP (China Daily 06/20/2009 page11) |
