North Korea test-fired a seventh missile Wednesday, intensifying the furor
that began when the country 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 UN Security Council and calls in Tokyo for economic sanctions against the
impoverished country.
A North Korean official argue that the country had the right to such
launches. The tests and the impenitent North Korean attitude raised fears that
further firings could follow.
US officials said North Korea fired a long-range Taepodong-2 early in the
day, but that it failed shortly after takeoff, calling into question the
technological capability of North Korea's feared ballistic missile program.
Pyongyang last fired a long-range missile in 1998.
The bold firings came under close international scrutiny of the North's
missile launch facilities. The North American Aerospace Defense Command
monitored the launches as they progressed but soon determined they were not a
threat to the United States, a spokesman said.
Some feared more firings. Pyongyang could test additional missiles soon
despite the international outcry over Wednesday's launches, Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said after making a protest via telephone to North
Korea's ambassador to Canberra, Chon Jae Hong.
"We think they probably do intend to launch more missiles in the next day or
two," Downer told reporters, without explaining if the possibility of more tests
came up in his talk with Chon.
South Korea, separated from the North by heavily armed border, said the test
launches would further deepen its neighbor's international isolation, sour
public opinion in the South toward Pyongyang and hurt efforts to control weapons
of mass destruction.
The tests, which came as the United States celebrated the Fourth of July and
launched the space shuttle Discovery, appeared timed to draw the most attention
from Washington. Some speculated that Pyongyang wanted some of the spotlight
focused on Iran's nuclear program.
"North Korea wants to get the US to direct bilateral negotiations by using
the missile card," said Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the Seoul-based
Sejong Institute. "Timing the launch date on July 4 is an attempt to apply
maximum pressure on the US government."
