North Korea has launched a seventh missile:
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea test-fired a seventh missile Wednesday, intensifying the furor that began when the reclusive regime defied international protests by launching a long-range missile and at least five shorter-range rockets earlier in the day.
An official at the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that North Korea had tested a seventh missile that was either short- or medium-range. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing agency rules, had no additional details.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency reported that the missile landed six minutes after launch, but did not say where. The chief of Russia’s general staff said that Russian tracking systems showed that Pyongyang may have launched up to 10 missiles during the day, the Interfax news agency reported.
The missiles, all of which apparently fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan, provoked international condemnation, the convening of an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council and calls in Tokyo for economic sanctions against the impoverished communist regime.
North Korea remained defiant, with one official arguing that the country had the right to such launches. The tests and the impenitent North Korean attitude raised fears that further firings could follow.
I’ve read a number of explanations for the flurry of activity:
- The consensus view seems to be that it’s an attention-getting device.
- I’ve read suggestions that they’re getting rid of inventories because they’re concerned about a U. S. or even world response.
- Some suggest that they’re just incompetent or crazy.
- My own view is that they’re simultaneously testing their own capabilities, gathering information on U. S. anti-missile capabilities, and developing means of eluding them.
- I don’t think that we should discount the idea that these actions are for internal consumption.
- It may have been a means of forcing the U. S.’s hand. Duck of Minerva notes that, regardless of intent, that’s the likely result of the missile-firing.
- UPDATE: it’s a merchandising ploy. North Korea’s only real export is weaponry. Pursuit of working ICBM’s and nuclear weapons will expand their markets.
Other suggestions?
One more thought: it continues to be true that, so long as North Korea can hide behind China’s skirts, there’s very litttle we can do. China has a veto-wielding UN Security Council vote and is North Korea’s main source for food and fuel. If China doesn’t respond with more than tongue-clucking to the ongoing provocations, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that they’re not unhappy with North Korea’s present course.
…Pursuit of working ICBM’s and nuclear weapons will expand their markets.
Only if the thing works.
Anyone can build an ICBM that doesn’t work.
It may be preparation for a come-down on their big missle. By proving they have the right to launch missles, they can take their big missle off the launching pad without losing face. The flurry of launches may have been to drive the point home. The larger the come-down, the larger the counter-event must be.
Good suggestion, pigilito. One of the more likely I’ve heard.
rosignol, although it’s tempting to think of our own missile program as one success after another (that’s the impression you’d get from reading most digest histories), the reality is that there were lots and lots of failures. In the Vanguard program in the 1950’s, for example, roughly half the launches were failures.
If the North Koreans persist in experimenting, they’ll learn more with each experiment and, eventually, they’ll succeed.
I think the the timeline is more significant than the success rate at this point.