Missile launch

North Korea’s ‘Reckless’ Missile Test Over Japan Escalates War of Words

The rogue government of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un launched a ballistic missile over Japan’s northern Hokkaido island into the sea on Tuesday morning, prompting warnings to residents to take cover and drawing sharp reactions from Japanese, South Korean and US officials.

The test was done in response to the United States and South Korean annual military exercises in the South. These defensive exercises, which the North sees as a preparation for invasion resulted in a serious provocation of the war of words between North Korea and the rest of her neighbors. The missile launch caused Japanese citizens to shelter in place and disrupted train service.

North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under young leader Kim Jong Un, the most recent on Saturday, in defiance of U.N. sanctions, but firing projectiles over mainland Japan is rare.
“North Korea’s reckless action is an unprecedented, serious and a grave threat to our nation,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.
North Korea remained defiant.
“The U.S. should know that it can neither browbeat the DPRK with any economic sanctions and military threats and blackmail nor make the DPRK flinch from the road chosen by itself,” North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun said, using the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The U.S., as well as Australian diplomats, are calling on China to exert more pressure on the government of Kim Jong Un. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that each country’s security concerns must be addressed in talks.

“The U.N. Security Council has put through several resolutions and sanctions have all along been put in place but everyone can see whether they’ve had actual results,” she said.

“On the one hand, sanctions have continued to be put in place via resolutions and on the other hand North Korea’s nuclear and missile launch process is still continuing.”

With tensions heightening in the region, firing a missile over another country’s territory is a dangerous and foolhardy act that will only result in disaster unless the Chinese step up and put a stop to these “tests.”

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Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Iranian Backed Terror Group Fires Missile Into Saudi Arabia

A SCUD-type of missile, launched by Yemen-based Houthi rebels flew hundreds of miles in Saudi Arabia according to US defense officials. And even more concerning to government officials was that the missile flew farther in range than anything the rebels had used before and that Iran supplied it.

The missile, described by one official as a Scud, was fired from Houthi controlled territory near Sa’Dah in northern Yemen and flew some 930 kilometers before landing near the western coast of Saudi Arabia.

It is assessed that the target was a Saudi oil facility near the port city of Yanbu.
One official told CNN that the missile launch was concerning because it flew farther than any other missile fired by the Houthis.
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has previously accused Iran of providing the Houthis with arms, including missiles.
“We see Iranian-supplied missiles being fired by the Houthis into Saudi Arabia,” Mattis told reporters en route to Saudi Arabia during an April visit.
The Houthis are also believed to have seized stockpiles of weapons from Yemeni government depots during their takeover of much of the north of the country.
Asked if Saturday’s missile was supplied by Iran or part of a pre-existing Yemeni government stockpile, one US defense official said it was not clear but added, “either way the Houthis didn’t make it.”
The missile flew hundreds of miles over Saudi Arabia despite the kingdom’s purchase of billions of dollars’ worth of US anti-missile technology, including Patriot missiles.
A website associated with the Houthi rebels’ media-wing did publish a video of what they said was a Scud-type missile launch that targeted a Saudi oil refinery. The post said the missile struck its intended target.
The Saudi government did not immediately comment on the launch but a Saudi state news agency reported Sunday that an electrical transformer located at the gate of the Samref refinery caught fire as a result of the high weather temperature, adding that the fire did not result in any human or operational losses.
Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Arab states against the Iran-backed Houthi militants in support of Yemen’s internationally-recognized government, which the Houthis ejected from the country’s capital in 2014.
While the coalition has made some gains against the Houthis in the south, the rebels still control swaths of territory in the country’s north, including areas along the Yemen-Saudi border.
While the US has been working with the UAE to combat al Qaeda in Yemen, conducting over 80 airstrikes and a series of ground raids against the terror group, US support of the Saudi-led fight against the Houthis has been much more limited.
“The US military’s support to the Saudi-led coalition remains in a non-combat advisory and coordinating role. The Department of Defense provides air refueling and shares intelligence with the Saudi-led coalition,” US Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman told CNN.

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Photo: Houthi Rebel media release

North Korea Launches Several Land-to-Ship Missiles, South Korea Delays THAAD

The rogue nation of Kim Jong Un in North Korea continues to up the ante in the never-ending weapons program tit-for-tat. The North launched a series of missiles that were characterized as land-to-ship and defensive in nature off of its coast.

While the UN continues to impose more economic sanctions on the North, Jong’s military continues their dangerous game of cat and mouse and have been rattling their saber and tweaking the US and the South.

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in who took office on May 10 has pledged to work for a peaceful solution with the North and has delayed the installation of the controversial US missile defense program THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) that China, North Korea’s chief ally particularly have issues with.

South Korea on Wednesday said it will hold off on installing remaining components of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that has angered North Korea’s main ally, China, amid early signs of easing tensions between the two countries.
The missiles were launched Thursday morning from the North Korean coastal city of Wonsan and flew about 200 km (124 miles), South Korea’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Under third-generation leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has been conducting missile tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
Compared to the different types of ballistic missiles Pyongyang has recently tested, the missiles launched on Thursday are considered to be more defensive in nature, designed to defend against threats such as enemy warships.
North Korea unveiled a number of new weapons at a massive military parade on April 15 to mark the birth anniversary of the state’s founding leader and has since tested some of them.
“What appeared to be a new type of land-to-ship missile equipped with four launching canisters was unveiled at the parade,” said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. “I think this might be what was used today.”
“Obviously, the pressure China puts on South Korea has taken effect. Seoul’s will has been shaken,” the paper said. “However, attitude is not everything. Without solving the problem of THAAD, the pain it has brought to bilateral relations will not disappear, and South Korea must swallow some of the bitter results.”
China should work with Russia on counter-measures to THAAD, the Global Times added.
Asked about the latest missile test, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called for all parties to exercise restraint.
“The UN Security Council resolution has clear rules on (North Korea’s) use of ballistic missiles technologies,” she said. “All sides should work together to de-escalate tensions and take active steps to stabilize the region.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing China aggressively to rein in North Korea, warning that all options, including a pre-emptive military strike, are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development.

The decision to delay THAAD has been seen as a sign of weakness by South Korea. The Global Times, published by China’s official People’s Daily has said “Obviously, the pressure China puts on South Korea has taken effect. Seoul’s will has been shaken,” the paper said.

“However, attitude is not everything. Without solving the problem of THAAD, the pain it has brought to bilateral relations will not disappear, and South Korea must swallow some of the bitter results.”

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Photo courtesy Reuters

North Korea Fires Scud Ballistic Missile into the Sea of Japan

The North Koreans are it again, test firing a Scud-type ballistic missile that successfully launched and landed in the Sea of Japan off Korea’s east coast. This was the latest in a series of missile tests that the reclusive, belligerent nation has conducted in recent weeks.

This latest test unleashed a protest from Japan who stated that the missile landed in their exclusive economic zone. President Trump, returning from a weeklong trip overseas was briefed on the situation. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis spoke on television about the latest developments and was asked what a conflict in Korea would be like answering, “probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes”.

The missile was believed to be a Scud-class ballistic missile and flew about 450 km (280 miles), South Korean officials said. North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union.
Monday’s launch followed two successful tests of medium- to long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
North Korea likely showing its determination to push ahead in the face of international pressure to rein in its missile program and “to pressure the (South Korean) government to change its policy on the North”, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said.
It was the third ballistic missile test-launch since South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10 pledging to engage with the reclusive neighbor in dialogue.

The Russians called for restraint in the area while Pyongyang’s protector, China, in a statement to the UN’s Security Council that the council’s resolutions had ‘clear rules’ and urged the North Korean government to follow them.

In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, China stated, “The situation on the Korean peninsula is complex and sensitive, and we hope all relevant sides maintain calm and exercise restraint, ease the tense situation as soon as possible and put the issue back on the correct track of peaceful dialogue.”

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Photo courtesy BBC