North Korea missile launch filmed

The UK newspaper Telegraph is reporting that the North Korean missile launch this week was captured by U.S. satellites.  In photos, the exhaust trail of a rocket streaked across the sky can be seen against the backdrop of East Korea Bay in North Korea.  North Korea launched what was ostensibly a rocket for satellite-delivery, which has been widely perceived as a thinly veiled display of its ability to project intercontinental ballistic missiles across the Pacific ocean.  The story is complicated by the fact that no satellite was detected post-launch, and the latter stages of the rocket fell far short of reaching North American soil.  However, most world leaders have expressed deep concerns with North Korea’s continuing activities in developing nuclear weapons, given its history of trading away missile technology to so-called “rogue states”.

In 2006, North Korea previously launched a missile over Japanese territory, causing tremendous alarm and consternation in both the Japanese and South Korean governments.  The United States, since World War II, has assumed the role of defender for Japan and continues to station troops in South Korea.  The launch of what could be an intercontinental ballistic missile seemingly places American interests at jeopardy.

Tags: North Korea, nuclear missile

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 7:19 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.