And so it begins..? AP via Yahoo
The U.S. military is tracking a ship from North Korea that may be carrying illicit weapons, the first vessel monitored under tougher new United Nations rules meant to rein in and punish the communist government following a nuclear test, officials said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he has ordered additional protections for Hawaii just in case North Korea launches a long-range missile over the Pacific Ocean.
The UN Security Council authorized the boarding and/or ordering to port any N. Korean vessel suspected of carrying weapons. North Korea has stated that any such activity would be "An act of War"
Apologies for the short diary, the story broke within the hour apparently, will update as necessary.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen did not specifically confirm that the U.S. was monitoring the ship when he was asked about it at a Pentagon news conference Thursday.
"We intend to vigorously enforce the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 to include options, to include, certainly, hail and query," Mullen said. "If a vessel like this is queried and doesn't allow a permissive search," he noted, it can be directed into port.
Use of force is not authorized by the Resolution, however, nations are prohibited from allowing refueling of any such vessel if the captain refuses orders to head to port or be inspected.
A Japanese published report speculated today that N. Korea's expected next missile may be headed toward Hawaii:
The Japanese Daily Yomiuri reports that North Korea is going to launch a long range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in or around the 4th of July according to analysis by Japan's Defense Ministry.
The Ministry expects that the launch will occur in the northeastern section of the country at the Tongchang-ri site, where it is believed the Taepodong-2 missile will be launched.
In the article they explain further the reasons why the Ministry suspects this:
"Based on the assumption that this latest missile is a two- or three-stage type and has capability equal or superior to the long-range ballistic missile North Korea launched in April, the Defense Ministry predicted the possibility of a launch toward Hawaii, with a launch toward Okinawa Prefecture and Guam also seen a possibility.
If it took the Okinawan path, when the first-stage booster detaches it could fall in the vicinity of a Chinese coastal area and might anger China.
In the case of the Guam path, the missile must overfly South Korea and Japan's Chugoku and Shikoku regions, which means the booster would be dumped onto a land area. Therefore, the ministry sees both possibilities as quite low, according to the sources.
In case of the Hawaii route, the booster could be dumped into the Sea of Japan. If such a long-range test launch was successful, North Korea would be able to pose a great military threat to the United States, which until now has not regarded North Korean missiles as a threat to North America or Hawaii. Therefore, the ministry concluded the Hawaii route is most probable of the three scenarios, the sources said.
Reuters follows with the story that US Missile defenses are being bolstered
REUTERS - The United States has deployed anti-missile assets to the Pacific in case Pyongyang launches more missiles, possibly in the direction of Hawaii, U.S. officials said on Thursday.