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Just in - North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan at 3:32am this morning. Apparently it went into the sea at 3:38 am.

It is not known whether it was a Taepodong-2 type missile at this stage.

NHK.or.jp

Sea of Japan

Update 5:24 am - CNN

It seems it was a short range missile, not the infamous Taepodong-2 type.

Update 5:57 am - BBC News have now picked it up as a breaking news item.

Update 5:40 am - NHK TV news is saying that preparations for launching the Taepodong-2 are underway. (Of course it’s still unknown whether it will be launched or not - they could just be giving it a polish or something).

The test missile launched this morning was 600 - 700kms off the coast of Japan.

Update 5:55 am - waiting for confirmation as to whether a second missile test has been launched.

Update 6:00 am - a second missile was launched - it landed 500 kms off the coast of Hokkaido.

Update 6:05 am - NHK TV is showing lots of dishevelled politicians running into government buildings.

Update 6:30 am - waiting for confirmation on a 3rd missile launch.

Update: 6:33 am - 3rd test missile was launched - waiting for details.

Aside 6:40 am - You know it’s amazing how quickly these news stations can pull experts of all kinds of things seemingly out of the air.

Update 6:48 am - waiting for confirmation that the 3rd missile was a Taepodong-2, which failed.

Update 7:05 am - 3rd missile was launched at around 5 am this morning.

Update 7:30 am - all 3 missiles landed in the Sea of Japan, which lies in between North Korea and Japan.

Update 8:00 am - the total is now officially 4 missiles have been launched. Waiting on more details.

BTW if you are wondering why the numbers are all over the place - some news outlets are reporting them earlier than the official Japanese press outlets.

Update 8:12 am - official total now 5 missiles. Some stations say 6.

The reason for the missile testing has not been reported at this stage.

Update 8:17 am - now officially 6 test missiles have been launched into the Sea of Japan.

Update 8:42 am - Japan says that only 5 missiles have been launched. Types have not been confirmed.

Shinzo Abe, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, just gave a press conference. He said there will be some strict measures taken - but has not stated exactly what those are at this time.

Update 5:10 pm - as you’ve probably read the total is back to 6 officially. There will be a press conference soon.

The missile launch schedule was as follows (approximate times):

Launch 1 - 3:40am
Launch 2 - 4:10am
Launch 3 - 5:00am
Launch 4 - 7:20am
Launch 5 - 7:40am
Launch 6 - 8:30am

Launch 3 is the suspected Taepodong-2, which failed soon after launch.

Update 5:40 pm - some background on issues relating to the recent relationship between North Korea and Japan:

• August 1998 - North Korea fire a Taepodong-1 test missile over Japan
• Abduction issues - only in recent years have Japanese people abducted from Japan to North Korea been allowed to make visits back to reunite with family here
• September 2003 - Japan and North Korea sign an agreement to preserve peace, the condition being North Korea not test any more missiles
• Shipping - there have been a few incidents regarding North Korean vessels entering Japanese shipping territories

Update 5:50pm - a 7th missile has been launched

Update 5:53 pm - this latest one was launched at around 5:20 pm. Further details pending.

Koizumi-san is live on telly. He is explaining they can’t define the reason for these tests - there is no positive result for North Korea to be testing.

In fact he said that about 8 times actually. No other information was forthcoming and he ran away.

Update 6:10 pm - the Sydney Morning Herald has a good article about some of the sanctions Japan has declared against North Korea.

Update 6:30 pm - it is being reported that 2 more missiles are likely to be launched

Update 6:50 pm - the 7th missile landed in the Sea of Japan.

Update 7:05 pm - the Japanese government is now meeting with Ambassadors from South Korea and China.

Report from Pyongpang - the missile launches have not been reported on radio or television. Life continues as normal - the general populace seems ignorant of any knowledge of the testing.

It is believed that Lil’ Kim launched the missiles to show both the world and his own country his own strength.

Which is tricky to work out because they haven’t told anyone over there about it. Possibly they just mean showing strength to the military.

There are no reports of damage to either planes or boats from the missiles.

Update 7:10 pm - the Korean Association building in Chiyoda-ku was placed under heavy protection today, but did not see much trouble.

It is suspected that Launch 3 (the possible Taepodong-2) failed because the first section of the missile did not detach correctly when it was supposed to.

Update 7:43 pm - South Korea is now considering withdrawing aid and revising their appeasement policy. China has also expressed disappointment. Russia - who were very close to the landing areas are upset, and have said that if any of the missiles hit the land itself they are considering retaliation of some description. Regardless North Korea has now alienated itself further from it’s neighbours.

Security council news - Russia and China do not fully support harsh economic sanctions - but Japan is definitely considering imposing them. Russia is also concerned about the effect on sanctions on discussions in regard to nuclear policies.

China hopes that America will compromise further on nuclear policies. North Korea is hoping that China will support them further. China is being very cautious.

Summary of international response

As you can see from above - lots of different snippets coming out from all sorts of places. Need to wait until after the Security Council meeting concludes to confirm any further actions.

Update 11:55 pm - Happy to say nothing else has happened since the 7th launch at 5:20ish this evening.

Most news programs are just providing a digest of all that has happened during the day. They’ve also managed to locate a few extra experts here and there for variety.

• Damn - I felt like hiding under the desk when I heard that…  What the hell is Li’l Kim up to with all this sabre rattling?

  T
  06/07/04 11:09 PM

• I believe that’s the question on everyone’s lips…

  MJ
  06/07/04 11:24 PM

• Dear Leader is “ronrey, so ronrey, so ronrey and misunderstood…”

  Thanks for the news roundup.

  Kristen
  06/07/05 05:08 AM

• Gosh, you were up early this morning!

  Reading this is better than watching it on telly! I appreciate the editing and the lack of images. Just the important bits, the updates, and your dry sense of humour….  (^_^)

  j-ster
  06/07/06 06:20 AM