Security

North Korea Preps for New Missile Launch? (Updated)

If testing a nuke doesn’t get their attention, try firing an intercontinental ballistic missile. According to news reports, North Korea may be preparing to fuel up another Taepodong-2 missile for a long-range test. On a visit to Asia, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates acknowledged that North Korea had begun work on a new long-range missile […]

KOREA NORTHIf testing a nuke doesn't get their attention, try firing an intercontinental ballistic missile. According to news reports, North Korea may be preparing to fuel up another Taepodong-2 missile for a long-range test.

On a visit to Asia, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates acknowledged that North Korea had begun work on a new long-range missile -- but downplayed the possibility of military action.

“We have seen some signs that they may be doing something with another Taepodong-2 missile,” Gates told reporters at a press conference in Manila. “But at this point it’s not clear what they’re going to do.”

Gates is in Asia as part of a diplomatic offensive to build a unified front on North Korea. The SecDef met yesterday with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea; another high-level U.S. delegation will visit Asia this week. Reviving stalled six-party talks may be one option. But according to Reuters, Gates is forwarding a second alternative: A bigger investment in missile defense.

The news agency quoted a Japanese official, who said Gates met with Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on the sidelines of a Asian Security Conference in Singapore. Paraphrasing Gates, the official said: "One [option] is the diplomatic effort through six-party talks or the United Nations. The other is for Japan, the U.S. and South Korea to strengthen anti-nuclear proliferation measures. Specifically, that could mean missile defense and other defensive moves against North Korea."

That response may cheer missile defense advocates, who were sorely disappointed that the United States didn't try to shoot down the last Taepodong-2. After all, news reports often give the Taepodong-2 an ominous descriptive tag: The missile is "theoretically capable" of reaching Alaska or Hawaii.

Emphasis, however, should be placed on "theoretical." North Korea is 0 for 3 when it comes to testing long-range missiles, and its most recent launch test in April saw the missile's satellite payload plummet into the Pacific Ocean. That launch test somewhat more successful than a 2006 test, which saw a Taepodong-2 disintegrate after leaving the launch pad.

[PHOTO: Spiegel.de]

UPDATE: Noah here. Speaking of missile defense, Gates is scheduled to visit the ICBM interceptors at Ft. Greely, Alaska today. The Defense Secretary's new budget calls for deploying no more than 30 of those anti-missiles -- instead of the 44 originally planned. Overall, Gates is pushing to trim missile defense accounts by $1.2 billion. Congressional Republicans say that's a mistake, with Pyongyang prepping for more launches, *CQ's *Josh Rogin reports.

“North Korea’s brazen act of aggression should strengthen our resolve for a multi-layered missile-defense system capable of protecting our nation and our allies,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner.

Other officials and experts, however, are downplaying the relationship between North Korea’s nuclear brinksmanship and the American missile-defense program. “The joining is happening in our heads, not on the ground,” said Michael O’Hanlon, senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

*A worldwide missile-defense system, they add, is simply not an effective way to fight North Korea’s missile development. “People want to create this aura of omnipotent missile defense,” said O’Hanlon, “But if they were right, then a country like North Korea shouldn’t be bothering in the first place." *

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