Even as it was announced that North Korea will allow nuclear inspectors from the IAEA to visit the reactor at Yongbyon, the DPRK conducted a missile test off its east cost, firing one short-range missile into the Sea of Japan. As commenter Hamilton has noted, that’s one less to shoot at USFK.
From the Dong-a Ilbo: “President of the Families of Abducted and Detained in North Korea, confirmed yesterday at a press conference, ‘A former South Korean soldier surnamed Kim is currently staying in a third country. He crossed the North Korean border at around 10 p.m. on June 14. He joined the South Korean army in August 1951 at age 17. He is now 74 years old.’”
- #GI Korea has an excellent and lengthy post on the background, events, and aftermath of the 2002 accident where a U.S. armored vehicle killed to schoolgirls. I arrived in Korea a few days after the accident, but things didn't start to heat up until two months later, as I was returning to the States.
- #Via Reuters: “…there was strong suspicion a huge shipment of methamphetamines seized at the former U.S. navy base of Subic north of Manila this week came from clandestine drugs laboratories in North Korea.” The Joker took over Batman’s abandoned cave.
- #From TimesOnline: "THE first case of murder and suicide caused by North Korea’s new food crisis has emerged with the account of a man who killed his hungry wife and children and then took his own life in despair." This report can't be confirmed, but it is entirely plausible.
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June 27th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
“As commenter Hamilton has noted, that’s one less to shoot at USFK.”
Well that is a funny and actually good point, I worry about us getting too used to NK just firing missiles in every which direction. What happens next time when we see NK setting up to fire missiles into the Sea Of Japan and it turns out they’re actually firing missiles at Japan? It’s like ‘the boy who cried wolf’ gone way, way wrong. Certainly we (the US and/or Japan) could respond with devastation to the regime, but I’d rather fix the cavity before it comes to the point where the whole tooth has to be pulled.
June 28th, 2007 at 5:44 am
Here’s a far more interesting what-if:
What if they make a public announcement that they’re going to use the Taepo-Dong 2 for a peaceful space launch?
June 28th, 2007 at 6:48 am
Peter Pan,
I’m guessing that Japan’s SDF won’t fall asleep at the Patriot Missile Battery switch, should North Korea decide to give the U.S. a reason.
Mark,
Hopefully they would do it 4th of July evening so the missile malfunctioning and exploding in the night sky would add to the festivities.