U.S. Readies System For Missile Detection
Use Against N. Korean Launch Discounted

By Thomas E. Ricks and Joohee Cho
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The U.S. military yesterday moved ships into position off the coast of North Korea to detect the launch of any long-range ballistic missiles and prepared its new, unproven missile-interception system to attempt a response if necessary.

It was apparently the first time that the U.S. government has readied its rudimentary missile-defense system other than to test it. But officials played down the possibility that the interceptors might be used against a North Korean missile, and the South Korean government expressed doubt that Pyongyang is even preparing a test launch of its first intercontinental missile. It suggested that the government of Kim Jong Il might only be preparing to send a satellite into space.

Han Song Ryol, North Korea's deputy chief of mission at the United Nations, said that Pyongyang has a right to develop and test missiles, but that it would like to ease tensions over the situation through talks, the Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying. "We know that the U.S. is concerned about our missile test launch," the news services quoted Han as having said in a telephone conversation with Yonhap. "Our position is to solve this situation through discussions."

Two U.S. Navy ships with sensors that could swiftly detect and track a missile's flight were operating off the North Korean coast yesterday, a Pentagon official said. They are the USS Curtis Wilbur and the USS Fitzgerald, both Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers based at Yokosuka, Japan.

Also, as part of a long-planned exercise, the Navy has three carrier battle groups operating near Guam in the western Pacific for the first time since the Vietnam War, along with dozens of aircraft, including several heavy bombers.

Pentagon officials said that steps had been taken to ready the U.S. interceptors in much the same way that they would proceed for a test of the system -- which is still being built -- because of recent satellite imagery indicating that North Korea might be preparing a test launch.

But they declined to confirm a Washington Times story yesterday that said the system had recently been activated, and that the Bush administration is considering shooting down the North Korean missile.

"The United States has a limited missile-defense system, but I'm not going to discuss status or capabilities," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

There are nine interceptor missiles based in Alaska and two in California. They are at the core of a complex system that connects launch data from satellites and radars on land and aboard ships, and transmits the data to command-and-control facilities, where senior commanders make decisions about whether to launch interceptors. The system has not successfully intercepted a missile in its current configuration.

U.S. government officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, played down the likelihood of the new anti-missile system being used in this situation because, they said, it is not yet clear whether North Korea will send a missile aloft -- or if it does, whether it would head anywhere near U.S. territory. Nor would the U.S. government want to risk an embarrassing failure of its system, they said, and it is possible that the missile could carry a satellite into space, rather than arc back to earth.

In Seoul, a South Korean official said his government is skeptical of U.S. intelligence indicating that North Korea is preparing to launch a new, larger version of the Taepodong-2 missile capable of hitting the West Coast of the United States. He said his government is not particularly alarmed by the situation and "doesn't understand why there is such fuss in other countries on this."

He also said it is too early to tell if the North Koreans are trying to launch a satellite or test a missile.

A South Korean parliamentary panel concluded that North Korea "does not seem" to have completed injecting fuel into the missile, citing information from South Korea's National Intelligence Service.

"The NIS reported that it is hard to believe the missiles have been fully fueled already," Rep. Chung Hyung Keun, secretary of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee, told reporters in Seoul. The lawmaker made the remark after emerging from a briefing by the NIS. "The 40 fuel tanks spotted at the site do not contain enough to launch a missile that needs 65 tons of liquid fuel," the lawmaker said.

National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley appeared to confirm the South Korean account when he told reporters on Air Force One as President Bush flew to Vienna yesterday that "it's hard to tell" if North Korea has fueled the missile.

"They seem to be moving forward towards a launch, but the intelligence is not conclusive at this point," Hadley said.

U.S officials have examined intelligence that suggests Pyongyang may be preparing to test a Taepodong-2 missile from a remote village on North Korea's northeast coast. They have said U.S. satellites have observed liquid-fuel canisters placed near the missile, but officials said there was no confirmation that the missile had been fueled.

Meanwhile, the United States and Japan began negotiations on a draft resolution at the United Nations that would condemn Pyongyang if it conducts a test. The resolution would also demand that Pyongyang observe a 1999 moratorium on missile tests and resume international negotiations over its nuclear weapons program.

U.S. and Japanese diplomats have been laying the groundwork for the resolution in private meetings with members of the Security Council. But council diplomats said that China, which is hosting the stalled six-nation talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, has called on the resolution's chief sponsors to water it down. The United States last attempted to take up the issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons program in 2003, but dropped the effort in the face of Chinese opposition.

An expert on ballistic missile proliferation, Henry D. Sokolski, said U.S. diplomatic efforts are too limited because North Korea is hardly being punished for its actions.

"We must make sure that others see that this is not a model to follow," said Sokolski, a former Pentagon official. "I am sure the Iranians are watching this very, very closely."

Cho reported from Seoul. Correspondent Anthony Faiola in Tokyo and staff writers Glenn Kessler in Washington and Colum Lynch at the United Nations contributed to this report.