Hoobastank’s Doug Robb Unplugged
April 4, 2009
- Doug Robb Biography
North Korean Missile Says, ‘Fuck You, World’
April 4, 2009
North Korea thumbed its nose at the world by launching its Taepodong-2 ballistic missile tonight, stealing the thunder from U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to Europe and reminding the world that it is a force to be reckoned with.
This evening’s missile launch took place at approximately 7:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 a.m., Sunday in No. Korea). The new Taepodong reportedly has a range of 4,000 miles, enough to reach Hawaii and Alaska. The launch was preceded by protests from Japan, South Korea and the U.S. and joint military exercises by So. Korean and U.S. military forces.
Jittery military officials in Tokyo acknowledged that they had twice incorrectly announced Saturday that North Korea had launched its rocket.
An embarrassed Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada called “inexcusable” two false alarms hours apart by the nation’s Self Defense Forces that the rocket had lifted off, only to be retracted moments later.
According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, North Korea first test-fired ballistic intermediate-range missiles in July 20061998. In October 2006, it reportedly conducted a successful test of a nuclear bomb.
In recent weeks, the North Koreans have rejected international food aid and suspended unification talks with the conservative South Korean regime of President Lee Myung Bak. Last month, DPRK soldiers seized two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, in the frontier area between China and North Korea. The Asian American women have been charged with espionage.
- North Korea Profile, CIA World Factbook
- Japan Talked Tough as No. Korea Counted Down, LAT
- North Korean Rocket Passes Over Japan, Reuters
- Japan, South Korea, US Condemn Launch, BBC
- News From North Korea (In English), Korean Central News Agency of DPRK
