Tag: north korea

While the US administration openly stated confidence in its Ground Based Interceptors (GBI), research analysts from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warn that such weapons may not be sufficient to protect from a deliberate attack launched by North Korea, since the current level of missile defense technology has not matured yet to the level enabling the defense systems to engage realistic-complex targets, or discriminate between real decoys and real warheads

Unconfirmed reports are claiming North Korea test fired two short-range missiles that eventually landed in the Sea of Japan on 15 March. The missiles are believed to be North Korea’s short-range KN-02 Toksa (Viper) missiles. The KN-02 is an upgraded variant of the Soviet-designed SS-21 Scarab A developed in the North by reverse-engineering a Syrian SS-21.

Toughened sanctions implemented by the UN dictated member states to inspect DPRK ships and air cargo suspected of carrying banned materials and tighten scrutiny of DPRK officials and institutions engaged in illicit activities.

The US Missile Defense Agency will deploy a second X-Band missile defense radar at a coastal base near Kyoto, in Central Japan to bolster defences against the North Korean missile threat. The location was picked as it was likely that a North Korean missile targeting Guam or Hawaii would fly over the western or central parts of Japan.

the United Nations’ Security Council approved sanctions against three North Korean state-controlled firms ordering all nations to immediately initiate a freeze on all the assets of the companies. The sanctions are being imposed for the firm’s role in the failed 13 April North Korean satellite launch.

The KN-08 missile (also known locally as ‘Hwaseong 13’) was unveiled on a military march in Pyongyang April 15, 2012. The missile will be able to deliver a nuclear warhead over 5,400 - 7,500 km distance, reaching targets such as Guam, Hawaii or even Alaska and the City of Seattle in Washington State in the Continental USA.

For the past several days, North Korea has directed a string of increasingly hostile threats at South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his conservative...

North Korea launched its long-range Unha-3 rocket today, Friday the 13th but the launch seems to have failed shortly after lift-off. No launch confirmation has been provided by North Korea yet. First reports say that an abnormally large “flare” was identified shortly after separation of the rocket’s first stage and the remaining portions of the rocket crashed somewhere in the sea.

North Korea’s new Unha-3 is now assembled on its launch platform in preparation for a highly controversial satellite launch later this week. And for the first time, the secretive North has granted a select group of international observers an extraordinary opportunity to view the rocket and witness the launch.

Satellite imagery captured by the Israeli EROS-B satellite on March 28, 2012 show the North Korean preparations for the planned April launch of a...

Japan’s Minister of Defense, Naoki Tanaka, issued orders on 30 March authorizing the Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) to shoot down a North Korean rocket, scheduled for launch in mid-April, should the rocket or rocket debris appear to pose a danger to Japanese life or property.

The satellite being launched is named Kwangmyongsong-3, translated to mean “Bright Star” and will be mounted atop an Unha-3 rocket. Such a launch would be considered in direct violation of a UN Security Council resolution prohibiting North Korean long-range ballistic rocket launches

The new defense strategy announced by President Barack Obama on January 5, 2012 sets the stage for dramatic cuts in the defense budget, reducing $487 billion in defense spending over the next decade. It also sets the guidelines for the nation’s armed services preparing to face new challenges in the next decade.

North Korea fired scores of artillery rockets at the South Korean Yeonpyeong island on November 23, 2010, killing two soldiers. Two soldiers and two civilians were...