North Korea Launches.....

[DannyBoy]

Maybe this is one of those 'tests' Biden was talking about.

[me]

You could be right.

[me]

NKorea launches rocket, defying world pressure
AP
     
By JEAN H. LEE, Associated Press Writer Jean H. Lee, Associated Press Writer – 5 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea defiantly carried out a provocative rocket launch Sunday that the U.S., Japan and other nations suspect was a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology.

Liftoff took place at 11:30 a.m. (0230GMT) Sunday from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean government said. In Washington, the State Department also confirmed the launch.

The rocket flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese broadcaster NHK said, citing its government.

"Our primary concern is to confirm safety and gather information," Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso told a news conference at his Tokyo office Sunday.

Resisting calls from President Barack Obama, Aso and Hu Jintao of China to call off the launch, North Korea had announced Saturday that preparations were complete to send communications satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 on a multistage rocket bound for the skies over Japan.

Tokyo deployed warships and Patriot missile interceptors off its northern coast to shoot down any debris that the North said might fall over the area.

U.S. and South Korean warships equipped with missile interceptors also plied the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan to monitor the launch.

Russia, meanwhile, scrambled fighter jets to its Far East in case any debris hits its territory, Russian news reports said.

North Korea pushed ahead with the launch despite mounting international pressure to cancel a liftoff Obama warned Friday would be a "provocative" act.

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan said earlier in the week they would take North Korea to the U.N. Security Council for an act they say is banned under a 2006 resolution barring Pyongyang from ballistic activity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_nkorea_missile

[Palehorse]

Yeah. . . Nothing went into orbit and the whole mess splashed down in the sea of Japan after going over Japan. . .   

[me]

Thank goodness it didn't land "in" Japan. 

[Palehorse]

If they repeat this little game Japan will shoot it down!

[Ma and Pa]

Rightly so.

[Locutus]

Yeah. . . Nothing went into orbit and the whole mess splashed down in the sea of Japan after going over Japan. . .   

Given the trajectory of the missile, and where it landed, I'm not so sure of their claim of a satellite launch.  I think they were testing what they hope to be eventual long range missile capabilities.

[Palehorse]

Agreed. Reports (sketchy) I've read seem to indicate three separate staging events during flight and this would clearly indicate a missile of long range capacity.

[DannyBoy]

I heard an interesting comment from one of the CNN talking heads this morning.....Kim Jong does not have to worry about the global economic crisis, he doesn't have to worry about global warming (I don't either), he doesn't have to worry about Aghanistan or Al Qaida.....etc....all he has to worry about is keeping his power.

If that's the case, why does he insist on pushing the worlds buttons by doing crazy shit like this?  This '6 party talk' will not work.  I say, they want it they got it....cut them off from the rest of the globe...nothing goes in, nothing comes out.  We don't have anything he wants, threats don't stop him....so what is there to negotiate with this clown anyway.  We can't bring anything to the table that he cares about.

For North Korea to change, it has to come from within....then it will make sense for the rest of the world to help out.  Until then it is a waste of time.  You think we would have learned that by now.  Imposed change will not work.

[Ma and Pa]

DannyBoy: Your observation that N. Korea's eventual change must come from within is spot on; it's time for the USA to tend its own fires and let the rest of the world do the same...as long as we aren't being threatened. But, it's futile to look for changes to happen overnight, or even yearly. We've been waiting for Cuba to come around for 50 years, now. And it's the height of conceit to expect other countries in the world to begin patterning themselves on us; our example to the world just hasn't been all that shining the last few years, has it? Well, maybe we've hit bottom and are starting to turn things around, at last. I hope.

[Henry Hawk]

I'm thinking we need to nip this in the bud, before kim jong get's TOO cocky....he is not the most trustworthy........and we are going to see something BAD come from this IF we (all those concerned) does NOT nip it.

we will very soon see...

[Exterminator]

I'm thinking we need to nip this in the bud, before kim jong get's TOO cocky....he is not the most trustworthy...

And how would you recommend we do that?  You do understand, of course, that a diplomatic agreement was reached with them under Clinton that they both abided by and allowed inspection of and that they had, in fact, shut down their nuclear reactor until Bush got on television and started flapping his gums with his 'axis of evil' crap?

[Henry Hawk]

And how would you recommend we do that?  You do understand, of course, that a diplomatic agreement was reached with them under Clinton that they both abided by and allowed inspection of and that they had, in fact, shut down their nuclear reactor until Bush got on television and started flapping his gums with his 'axis of evil' crap?

The launch violated Security Council resolution 1718....we got to be careful and NOT let him do what Iraq did....and THAT is refusing to abide...Obama himself, just stated..."rules must be binding, violations must be punished, words must mean something"....in which I whole heartedly agree.....lets see how this plays out.

[Exterminator]

The launch violated Security Council resolution 1718....we got to be careful and NOT let him do what Iraq did....and THAT is refusing to abide...Obama himself, just stated..."rules must be binding, violations must be punished, words must mean something"....in which I whole heartedly agree.....lets see how this plays out.

I agree that there should be consequences but you are skirting the question; how would you recommend we punish them?