North Korea Plans To Launch Missile

In the past month, news has grown within the international community that North Korea will launch a ballistic missile, most recently speculated to be scheduled for launch April 4. The story has received little attention until the past week, when Japan announced it was preparing its missile defense systems in preparations for the launch, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama lashed a harsh tongue on North Korea for its actions.

North Korea says the missile, a Taepodong-2, carries a satellite which will help the nation learn more about space, but others, including the US, Japan, and South Korea, say it could carry a warhead that could reach locations as far as Hawaii.

Six-party talks have been ongoing between the US, Japan, South Korea, Russia, China, and North Korea, which could be threatened should North Korea continue with the launch.

This all seems to be a game of politics, however, as North Korea attempts to ratify itself as a legitimate nuclear contender. Some western states have criticized the nation as more of a fear-monger than actual threat, but with rumors that Iran and North Korea may have somehow collaborated on nuclear plans, the missile launch comes as a legitimate threat to nearby nations. It is, nonetheless, a major security threat, and comes as recently US President Obama and Russian President Medvedev spoke about diminishing their missile arsenals.

Japan's mobilization of its missile defense system sent a clear message to North Korea that should any "debris" fall over the island nation, its defense system would be used. North Korea retorted that any attempts to intercept the missile by Japan would result in strikes on Japanese targets.

The US has also readied warships equipped with missile defense systems off the coast of South Korea, but officials say they are unlikely to be used unless the missile is headed for Hawaii, something, they admit, is quite unlikely.

There are UN sanctions against North Korean ballistics at stake, according to political leaders, that will be broken if (and probably more likely when) North Korea launches the missile. However, it seems as though Kim Jong Il now has no choice, having backed himself into a corner in the international system. Were he to forfeit the launch now, it would only make a mockery of his valiant attempts to prove a legitimate threat in northeast Asia and to his nuclear-able western counterparts.

A successful test would also show other states that North Korea is not afraid of global pressure and give it confidence in its ballistics program.

All should be told within the next four days, however, as the missile has (according to US spy planes, which North Korea has also threatened to shoot down) been being assembled and fueled under a large canopy, and should be due to launch sometime before April 8.