N. Korean Missile Launch Condemned

By John M. Doyle

Republicans in Congress are calling for beefed-up missile defense spending and economic sanctions against North Korea for its weekend missile launch, which was ostensibly to send a satellite into orbit but is suspected of being a covert intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said April 5 she soon will introduce legislation requiring economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation to remain in place "until North Korea abandons its illegal nuclear, missile, and weapons programs."

According to U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Command (NORAD), North Korea launched a Taepo Dong II missile April 4 Eastern Standard Time. The first stage of the three-stage missile fell into the Sea of Japan. The remaining stages flew over Japan and apparently fell into the sea without deploying the payload into space.

But President Barack Obama, calling the launch "a provocative act," noted that any missile launch violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, "which expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind."

The Democratic and Republican leadership of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) condemned the missile launch, but Republicans also called on Obama to continue spending on "a strong, layered missile defense system."

While the test appeared unsuccessful "at first glance," said Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, "North Korea seems to have made significant progress in its long-range ballistic missile technology, and will view it as a success simply because the international community allowed it to happen."

Because of its past nuclear testing and proliferation efforts, North Korea "must not be allowed to sell" long range missile technology to Iran and others, McHugh said.

In a joint statement, HASC Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), chair of the strategic forces subcommittee, said the committee had "worked for many years to ensure" fully-funded near-term missile defense systems including the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. Democrats in the House and Senate have been critical of the money spent on the GMD system, claiming that all segments of it have not been fully tested.

THAAD launcher photo: Space and Missile Defense Command