[Japan-US-World] Current Events #1

It's 6 am and I've been typing away (not so furiously) to finish my takehome midterm due in 4 hrs. I accidentially overdosed on too much caffeine, so I have this urging feeling to go sprinting down the dorm hallways...


Anyone a bit worried about North Korea's plans of launching a long-range rocket in the next few days?

"North Korea says it will attack the Japanese military and "major targets," if Japan shoots down a rocket Pyongyang plans to launch in the coming days, North Korea's state-run news service, KCNA, reported Thursday" (CNN Report on April 1st)

Apparently, the satellite's first booster would land in the Sea of Japan, and the second stage would drop into the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii.

North Korea is claiming that they want to explore outer space, but several intelligence agencies have stated that they are actually testing a long-range missile under the guise of a satellite launch.

Some articles if you're interested:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/26/north.korea.missile/index.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/04/20094253322939933.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7978397.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/world/asia/03korea.html?_r=1&ref=world

Pictures of the PAC-3 missile interceptors, which are now stationed in Akita:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2009-04/01/content_7637924.htm


We all know that North Korea is a threat to the security of East Asia. It has sufficient technology and resources to create nuclear weapons. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused it of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation and have been referred to as "some of the world's most brutalized people." It's relations with the U.S. and Japan are...not so great. (Former president George W. Bush had named North Korea as a part of an "Axis of Evil," which also includes Iran and Iraq)

What's the bigger picture here? How would Pyongyang's international relations change after the launch? Will it be launched, or will they bend down to international pressures?

Who knows? We'll find out in the next few days...

Launch is scheduled to take place between April 4 and April 8.