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Are we prepared for an attack by North Korea?
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(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
On Monday, North Korea criticized the U.S. missile defense for Hawaii and said that it would bolster its nuclear arsenal in self-defense. The North said that the U.S. is attempting to launch a pre-emptive strike on the closed regime. It also claimed that the U.S. deployment of nuclear-powered aircraft and atomic-armed submarines in waters near the Korean peninsula proved that the U.S. pre-emptive nuclear war was imminent.
Are we prepared for further provocation and an attack by North Korea?
The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea and another 50,000 in Japan, so if needed we can move them. Also, the U.S. has sold 40 U.S.-made missiles to South Korea for an Aegis destroyer this month to boost its defenses. The surface-to-air missiles for the Aegis destroyer, designed to track and shoot down objects including missiles, can hit targets up to 160 km away. The Chief of the U.S. Forces Korea General Walter Sharp said last Friday that the U.S. will use its missile defense network to defend South Korea against incoming missiles from North Korea under an extended deterrence pledge in case of an emergency.
Analysts believe that U.S. Aegis warships would be deployed near the peninsula to shoot down North Korean short- and medium-range missiles or high-altitude missile systems based in Hawaii would be activated to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the North. According to an Associated Press report, the Air Force has successfully launched on Monday an unarmed ICBM from the California coast to an area in the Pacific Ocean some 4,200 miles away.
So yes, we are prepared to counter an attack by North Korea, but the real question is will it get to that point where we will need to take military action? Let’s hope not.
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