The desperately poor nation of North Korea, which in this nighttime satellite photo, shows a nation that chooses to literally live in the dark ages, test fired some military missiles earlier today.From AP:
A defiant North Korea test-fired a long-range missile Wednesday that may be capable of reaching America, but it failed seconds after launch, U.S. officials said. The North also tested four of shorter range in an exercise the White House termed "a provocation" but not an immediate threat.
The audacious military tests by isolated communist nation came despite stern warnings from the United States and Japan -- and carried out as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle.
None of the missiles made it as far as Japan. The Japanese government said all landed in the Sea of Japan between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
Former Army Reserve Officer and Pajamas Blogger Austin Bay has an excellent analysis of this breaking news.
I'm watching CNN now, Gordon Chang, author of Nuclear Showdown : North Korea Takes On the World, does not put much stock in the speculation that the NORKs test fired the missiles today to make a statement on America's Independence Day, or to coincide with today's Space Shuttle launch. Chang's take is that the North Koreans were working towards these launches anyway, but thinks the successful summit between President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last week could've been the impetus for today's tests.
Technorati tags: North Korea Japan Koizumi Nippon Military Bush
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