Oh No!! North Korea launched ten, six, three, at least five, “a series” of missiles, including what is said to have been a test of its long-range Taepodong-2.

Start panicking now!

A U.S. State Department official in Washington told Reuters a long-range missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2, failed 40 seconds after it was launched.
Experts say the Taepodong-2 has a possible range of 3,500-4,300 km (2,190-2,690 miles).
Daniel Pinkston, director of the East Asia non-proliferation programme for the California-based Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said the rocket’s failure would be a blow to Pyongyang.
“If there was failure that early on in the flight, there is no way they could make any claims of test-launching a satellite as they did in 1998. They will not be able to exploit the propaganda value of that after that type of failure,” he said.
The first time North Korea test-fired a long-range missile — in 1998 over Japan — it triggered a sharp increase in tension in the region and sent shockwaves through Far East Asian financial markets.
…
Experts say that Pyongyang is developing long-range missiles to have the capability one day to deliver a nuclear bomb, but that it is years away from acquiring such a weapons system.

Had the Taepodong-2 not exploded shortly after launch, it would have altered the balance of power in Northeast Asia and had been a major global concern. Now, it should be of the greatest concern to the rocket scientists who designed the dud.*

The failure is also a setback for the writers at the Korean Central News Agency, who issued this this amusing threat on Monday:

North Korea would respond to a pre-emptive U.S. military attack with an “annihilating strike and a nuclear war,” the state-run media said Monday, heightening anti-U.S. rhetoric amid close scrutiny of its missile program.

The title of this post was stolen from Arms Control Wonk, who offers the following multiple-choice question.:

So who looks more foolish here?

A. Kim Jong-Il for staging a July 4th fireworks display that blew up in his face;

B. William Perry and Ash Carter for hyperventilating that we had to blow up this missile on the launch pad, instead of waiting for it to blow itself up 40 seconds after launch;

C. All those reporter who repeated the Pentagon palbum about how until the launch failure “we were ready to do what was necessary to defend the country,” as if the interceptors in Alaska had any chance of intercepting anything; or

D. All of the above.

*AsiaPundit does not have any detailed knowledge of the inner workings of North Korean bureaucracy, but he expects Kim Jong-il views failure in a similar light as do other evil overlords. If not, those North Korean guys are at the very least in for a serious razzing at the next rogue state propagandist convention.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, korea, north korea, northeast asia

Singapore’s best blogger, mr brown, has been targeted by the Ministry for Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) in a letter to the Today newspaper. In it, ministerial press secretary K Bhavani attacks mr brown for his use of polemics, sarcasm and hiding behind a pseudonym.:

mr brown’s views on all these issues distort the truth. They are polemics dressed up as analysis, blaming the Government for all that he is unhappy with. He offers no alternatives or solutions. His piece is calculated to encourage cynicism and despondency, which can only make things worse, not better, for those he professes to sympathise with.

mr brown is entitled to his views. But opinions which are widely circulated in a regular column in a serious newspaper should meet higher standards. Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives. And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly.

It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government. If a columnist presents himself as a non-political observer, while exploiting his access to the mass media to undermine the Government’s standing with the electorate, then he is no longer a constructive critic, but a partisan player in politics.

The original mr b column is here. AsiaPundit has had the pleasure of mr b’s company on several occasions. While he does indeed use a pseudonym, AsiaPundit understood that he does not write anonymously.

If mr b is attempting anonymity he is doing a horrible job of it. There are pictures of mr brown all over the internet and on his own site. Plus, he has made regular television and print media appearances.

Nevertheless, Kin Mun is clearly guilty of hiding behind a pseudonym to attack the government in a ‘partisan’ fashion. As such, he deserves all of the scorn that MICA has directed at him.

Worse than the pseudonym, mr brown has been known to hide his identity using clever disguises.

AsiaPundit will reiterate the call by K Bhavani that mr brown cease hiding behind his pseudonym and defend his views openly. Moreover, mr brown should come out from beneath that huge artificial afro.

Show some courage!

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore, southeast asia