Well, the total number of missiles fired by the North Koreans appears to be seven.

All the missiles landed in the Sea of Japan.

North Korea test-fired a seventh missile Wednesday -- amid international furor over the regime's launch of six missiles just hours earlier.

The Japanese Defense Agency said one ballistic missile was fired from southeastern North Korea around 5:20 p.m. (4:20 a.m. ET), landing in the Sea of Japan about 10 minutes later.

The range of the missile has not been confirmed by CNN. However, Japanese news agencies said it was medium-range.

The seventh test came after North Korea launched one long-range and five shorter-range missiles shortly after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday (2:30 p.m. Tuesday ET). Those tests lasted about five hours.

But the closely-watched Taepodong-2 missile, which some analysts say is capable of hitting the western United States, failed after about 40 seconds and landed in the sea about 200 miles (321 kilometers) west of Japan, U.S. officials said.

So what we have here is a failed missile test of the Tapeodong-2, but successful tests of the short and medium range missiles. It is clear that the tests of the more limited range weapons were intended to serve as a warning to the US and its allies that the North Koreans can do significant damage in Asia, even if they lack the capacity to reach the United States.

Captain's Quarters notes that the Taepodong-2 fell into the sea off Hokkaido 42 seconds after launch. This indicates a polar course designed to send teh missile towards Alaska -- a provocation of the first order, coming as it did on the Independence Day. Were we prepared to shoot it out of the sky? Were we prepared to retaliate had the missile continued further along that trajectory?

Clearly, this test shows that the North Koreas are still some way from deploying the Taepodong-2 -- and that concerted efforts by the United States and the international community must be taken to prevent the North Koreans from doing so.

UPDATE: The UN Security Council is meeting this morning.

The United Nations Security Council met in emergency session this morning to respond to North Korea's test-firing of seven missiles, as Japan and South Korea imposed economic penalties and nations around the world denounced the launchings.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, said as he arrived for the meeting that he hoped for "a strong and unanimous signal from the council that this kind of behavior is unacceptable."

And we all know how effective that will be, given in bringing Saddam Hussein to heel in Iraq.

Posted by: Greg at 02:42 AM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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