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NK Missile Warhead Found in Alaska
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Alpha-Omega
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Jul 30, 2003 17:02 PDT
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NK Missile Warhead Found in Alaska
Korean TImes
March 4, 2003
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
The warhead of a long-range missile test-fired by North Korea was found
in the U.S. state of Alaska, a report to the National Assembly revealed
yesterday.
"According to a U.S. document, the last piece of a missile warhead fired
by North Korea was found in Alaska," former Japanese foreign minister
Taro Nakayama was quoted as saying in the report. "Washington, as well
as Tokyo, has so far underrated Pyongyang's missile capabilities."
The report was the culmination of month-long activities of the
Assembly's overseas delegation to five countries over the North Korean
nuclear crisis. The Assembly dispatched groups of lawmakers to the
United States, Japan, China, Russia and European Union last month to
collect information and opinions on the international issue.
The team sent to Japan, headed by Rep. Kim Hak-won of the United Liberal
Democrats, reported, "Nakayama said Washington has come to put more
emphasis on trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the
United States since it recognized that the three countries are within
the range of North Korean missiles."
According to the group dispatched to the U.S., American politicians had
a wide range of opinions over the resolution of the nuclear issue, from
"a peaceful resolution" to "military response".
Doves, such as Rep. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and
co-chairman of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, called for
a peaceful settlement of the current confrontation, by offering food,
energy and other humanitarian aid to the poverty-stricken country, while
urging the North to give up its nuclear ambitions.
Rep. Markey also said the North should return to the nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty and the U.S. should make a nonaggression pact
with the communist North.
Hardliners, however, warned that the North's possession of nuclear
weapons will instigate a nuclear race in the region, provoking Japan to
also acquire nuclear weapons. Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois
Republican, said the U.S. might have to bomb the Yongbyon nuclear
complex should the North try to export its nuclear material to other
countries.
Over the controversy concerning the withdrawal of U.S. forces stationed
here, most American legislators that the parliamentary delegation met
said U.S. troops should stay on the peninsula as long as the Korean
people want, the report said.
mailto:"jin-@koreatimes.co.kr"
03-04-2003 17:27
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