US to deploy additional missiles on Pacific coast to counter North Korea

16 Mar 2013

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In a bid to counter the belligerent rhetoric of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Pentagon would spend $1 billion on the deployment of additional ballistic missile interceptors along the Pacific Coast. The decision was accelerated after Kim's recent sabre rattling as he sought to resist China's efforts to restrain him.

The new deployments, announced by defence secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday, would see the number of ground-based interceptors in California and Alaska increase from 30 to 44 by 2017.

In testing, the missiles had had a mixed record, hitting dummy targets just 50 per cent of the time. However, according to officials, the announcement yesterday was intended not merely to present a credible deterrence to the North's limited intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal.

They said it was also meant to show South Korea and Japan that the US was willing to commit resources to deter North Korea. It was also meant to send a message to Beijing to restrain or face an intensifying US military focus on Asia.

The New York Times quoted a senior administration official as saying that there had been a quickening in the pace of provocations. He added, however, that the real accelerant was the fact that the North Koreans seemed more unmoored from their Chinese handlers than even the administration had feared.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama had told ABC News early this week that he doubted whether Pyongyang could follow up on its threats, but the US needed to be prepared. He added, North Korea probably could not, but the government did not like the margin of error.

Hagel noted that a year ago North Korea put on display what was probably an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of being moved by road. The country also used another missile to put a satellite into orbit, "thus demonstrating progress in its development of long range missile technology".

The US had missile defence systems in place to protect against limited ICBM attacks, but North Korea in particular had recently made advances in its capabilities and was engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations.

He said, specifically, North Korea last month conducted its third nuclear test.

Hagel said the US would deploy the additional missiles in order to bolster its protection of the homeland and for staying ahead of the threat. It would also install a second radar in Japan to give improved early warning and tracking of any missile launched from North Korea.

According to Hagel, it was not clear when North Korea might be able to develop an effective intercontinental nuclear weapon but the new missiles would not be deployed until 2017.

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