[CNN] North Korea fuels long range ballistic missile, preps for launch

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- North Korea is believed to have completed fueling a missile capable of reaching Alaska, raising the probability of an imminent test launch, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

The United States plans to join Japan in a sharp response if the test goes ahead.

Washington has warned Pyongyang against the launch in a message passed to North Korean diplomats at the United Nations but there was no response, American officials said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Pyongyang could still decide to scrap the launch, but that was unlikely given the complexity of siphoning fuel back out of a missile prepared for launch.

The test is expected to involve a Taepodong-2 missile with an estimated range of 2,175 to 2,670 miles (3,500 to 4,300 kilometers). At that range, parts of Alaska in the United States would be within reach as well as Asia and Russia.

North Korea lacks an operational missile that can hit the continental United States, the California-based Center for Nonproliferation Studies said in a recent report.

Nonetheless it would be Pyongyang's first test of a long-range missile since it stunned the world in August 1998 by firing a Taepodong-1 over Japan that fell into the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. officials have watched with alarm as satellite photos showed launch preparations accelerating at the Musudan-ri missile facility in North Hamgyong province in North Korea's northeast.

The New York Times, quoting American officials, reported on its Web site that booster rockets were loaded onto a launch pad and fuel tanks fitted to a missile. This could not be confirmed, but U.S. and other officials have said satellite images show fuel tanks and key components of a missile positioned at the test site.

The South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo quoted a Seoul government official as saying the launch could be imminent.

"We think North Korea has poured liquid fuel into the missile propellant built in the missile launching pad. It is at the finishing stage before launching" but the South Korean government did not know if fueling was completed, he said.

Experts say if the missile is not launched 48 hours after fueling, the fuel will start to break down and damage the missile.

The test preparations came as six-country talks on North Korea's nuclear programs are stalemated.

If they test, the North Koreans "undoubtedly would bring upon themselves tougher sanctions from Japan and a cooling (in relations) from South Korea and China so it's not cost free for them, but it suggests they are not happy where they are in terms of the six-party process," said Michael Green, a former senior Asia adviser to President Bush.

Pyongyang now regrets a joint statement adopted by the six countries participating in the negotiations -- the United States, South and North Korea, Japan, Russia and China -- which requires it to give up its atomic ambitions, he said.

It is also unhappy with a U.S. crackdown on financial transactions involving cash earned by the North through illegal activities like currency counterfeiting, he said.

Daniel Pinkston of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies said the launch would be portrayed glowingly in official North Korean media and show the country as advancing its military and scientific prowess.

Some of North Korea's leaders may not be too worried about the response from Washington because "they see the U.S. as doing everything already it can to punish North Korea," Pinkston added.

American and Japanese "assets" -- including satellites and a U.S. guided missile ship -- have been moved into position to serve as long-range surveillance and tracking platforms.

Washington and its allies were caught off guard when Pyongyang last tested a missile eight years ago and they are determined to be ready this time to gather critical intelligence on the North's capabilities.

Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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And so the tense escalation and bullshit shows of force begin.
 
Amir0x said:
hey guys a country with actual weapons of mass destruction

what a novelty!
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Nahhhh they don't have anything we want. Strategically they're useless, their barren landscape holds no oil and too many hungry people to feed.
 
Oh no not alaska!

I wonder if its the little islands nobody cares about, not even the main part.

But I like how the article says it can hit the US.

Hey look, it can probably hit Guam too!
 
Master_Shake_05 said:
Why? So he can eat his gun? **** that shit.

Sam Fisher ftw!
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**** Sam. Solid could be in his walker, with arthritis, and a bad eye, and still pop a viagra and cock slap the hell out of North Korea.
 
jamesinclair said:
Oh no not alaska!

I wonder if its the little islands nobody cares about, not even the main part.

But I like how the article says it can hit the US.

Hey look, it can probably hit Guam too!
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:\ they're going to put a huge dent in our King Crab industry! I need my CRAB!
 
Warmongering and regime change aside

North Korea has it as a deterrance and more for national pride. There's no way a state can try to attack the United States with weapons, conventional or otherwise and live to tell about it, perhaps with the exception of the Russian Federaiton. The apparatus of North Korean oppresion could be destroyed in a matter of days simply with conventional weapons, targeting things like Secret Police HQ, party headquarters, etc.

What people need to be worried about is what Japan might do. The country has sworn off the use of nuclear weapons, but it's basically a psudo nuclear power. If it gets to the point where Japan feels they can no longer count of the American nuclear umbrella to defend them, they can have the bomb within a year, according to one estimate.

But yeah, this is one regime Dubya should have changed, not the one in Iraq.
 
Can you imagine if they hit LA, San Francisco, or Seattle? Talk about wiping someone off the map. I would feel so bad for all the oppressed people over there.
 
"As long as the axis of evil nation ISN'T Iraq, then it's ok". Nah, they're all handfuls.

Tomorrow, we'll see "Good Cop North Korea" before "Bad Cop North Korea" returns on Tuesday.
 
-- Don't read if you haven't finished 24s5 --
Someone divert that boat carrying Jack Bauer to North Korea, NOW.
 
CNN.com said:
North Korea is believed to have completed fueling a missile capable of reaching Alaska
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(looks outside)
No missles yet, lets hope it stays that way.
About 60% of Alaska's population lives in Anchorage, not to mention its one of the world's busiest cargo ports. A bomb here at the peak of summer would wreck massive economic and collateral damage. Don't you guys thinking its nothing but igloos and sled dogs here.
 
If North Korea does in fact get the bomb, and there STUPID enough to use the bomb, they will be blown off the map by several countries, not just the US. This is like shooting somebody in the arm while you have 100 guns pointed to your face.
 
datruth29 said:
If North Korea does in fact get the bomb, and there STUPID enough to use the bomb, they will be blown off the map by several countries, not just the US. This is like shooting somebody in the arm while you have 100 guns pointed to your face.
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The fallout could make South Korea, China, Japan, among others, nice and toast for quite some time. NK's location makes a nuclear exchange especially undesirable, don't think that hasn't occured to them.
 
datruth29 said:
If North Korea does in fact get the bomb, and there STUPID enough to use the bomb, they will be blown off the map by several countries, not just the US. This is like shooting somebody in the arm while you have 100 guns pointed to your face.
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I love that analogy!!! lmao
 
What can a long range ballistic missile do? Is it like in Ace Combat?

I think its time for the Razgriez *sp* to come out and play.
 
Any clue as to the nature of the missile? I highly doubt it's nuclear, despite Kim's crowing that they have the capability.

Either way, it's only a test launch that's probably targeting some uninhabited area; countless other countries, including the US, test experimental long-range weaponry on the daily. Jong-Il is arrogant and delusional, but I don't believe he's stupid. Practically every world power would collaborate to wipe him from existence if he did attack any place significance.
 
xabre said:
What's the point of building a rocket if you're not going to fire it?
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RTFA

They have to launch it within 48 hours or it will damage itself. Badly.

Also, nobody ****s with N. Korea:

_MG_0558.jpg
 
My fear is i think he's insane enough that he'd want to take the world by surprise. A test is one thing but what if its not a freaking test. This man is ****ing insane worse off than Saddam Hussen.

And china is just too jittery when it comes to this shit. I'd be worried china over reacts to whatever happens and comes after us. Which means i'll be learning chinese soon. I for one welcome our crazy asian overlords.
 
Either way, it's only a test launch that's probably targeting some uninhabited area; countless other countries, including the US, test experimental long-range weaponry on the daily. Jong-Il is arrogant and delusional, but I don't believe he's stupid. Practically every world power would collaborate to wipe him from existence if he did attack any place significance.
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the last test firing they did they fired the missile OVER japan into the see beyond as if to say "oh, looky here, we could hit you if we wanted to... now about that aid you are going to give us..."

firing over other countries is not cool - my fear is that the test will do the same again, and is a failure and it ends up landing in some place it shouldn't , sparking off an almighty ruckus....

Geeks - you can wave goodbye to yer anime pron and ps3s if it all kicks off!

"let them launch it. Who gives a ****??"
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where do you live?
 
ToxicAdam said:
I guess the bright side is that when they nuke Alaska, it will allow us to drill for oil there.

America still wins!
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booya-3.jpg


This avatar makes the post even funnier. :lol

Funny that some people merely laugh it off since the nuke can only hit Alaska ("LOLZ THERE'S NOTHING THERE ANYWAY WHO CARES LOLZ!!!11"). Nice attitude. :lol
 
Instigator said:
What is there to nuke in Alaska?
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Well there's me. I'm in AK, you'd lose a valuable GAFfer if the bomb drops. There's also a shootload of defense installations and that non-existant missle shield they are building in Kodiak. Lots of gigantic structures that are being built for no specific purpose. Also quite a few international and American tourists.
Instigator said:
So those missiles are going to go hundreds of meters underground and vaporize that oil?
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The pipeline was crippled by a wino with a deer rifle a few years back. What damage to the infrastructure will a nuke do? Also there wouldn't be anybody who could extract the oil due to the radiation.
 
I was thinking this North Korean thing would end with talks and North Korea walking away with shit loads of money

So what went wrong not enough payout?
 
Poor Kim Jong-Il. North Korea has been pushed off the news and the world's collective consciousness because of Iran and their nuclear question. This is either a shrewd move or very stupid one on their part; The six-party talks have stalled and NK needs a way to get back into the headlines and get the US to pay it some attention again. However any test that encroaches Japanese or American territory will likely bring the wrath of the Security Council.
 
Try living in Japan while this is happening... it is pretty tense here.. I heard rumors of Missle drills in schools... like going back the 50s...
 
calder said:
So when is the GAF/2ch Amazon.com get-Ferrio-to-'safety' fundraiser going to be setup?
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I am only giving money if you add Blackace list somewhere
 
Pfft, Japan is fine.* You're golden, it's Ferrio we have to protect as a genuine GAF treasure and an almost irreplaceable resource - kinda like the Alaskan oil fields.




*
may not actually be fine, Kim Jong-il is maybe not as stable as you'd like your renegade despots
 
datruth29 said:
If North Korea does in fact get the bomb
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I thought they already did..? Perhaps even a few of them?

Takuan said:
Any clue as to the nature of the missile?
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Methinks they'd just be testing their delivery capability - as said earlier, "look at how far we can reach now!" type thing. Any actual nuclear tests would be conducted on their own soil, if they've done any.
 
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