North Korea went ahead and decided to fire off their Taepodong 2 missile. Initial reports looks like it failed and landed in the Sea of Japan. Initial reports also say that Kim Jong-Il fired off three missiles, two little short-range and one big’un. Scratch that: Now four.
Japan is, to put it mildly, pissed. Understandably, Japan doesn’t want anyone tossing missiles in the direction of their country, especially very oddly-motivated egomaniac dictators who might very well have nuclear capabilities.
One pundit said that the reason Kim Jong-Il fired them off was to send a message to Pacific rim countries that North Korean is now to be taken seriously. There is also an undertone of North Korea sending a second, more subtle message, by choosing to fire them off on July 4th, right after the Space Shuttle launch. That undertone message is simple enough: “Blow Me, Dubya!”
Let us take that idea a little further. What does ‘take North Korea seriously’ mean? Will an Osaka businessman apply to set up a noodle bar in Pyongyang? Will Thailand ask Kim Jong-Il if it’s OK for the temples at Angkor Wat to open on Sundays? Will Dubya set up a six-nation meeting to listen to KJ-I sing from The Carpenters songbook? Would that get Kim Jong-Il the ‘seriousness’ he craves? Or, do we need another Graceland visit?
What the hell does the little dork want? If it is food and fuel, we can get that done with a half-dozen phone calls. The caveat is the UN comes in with the groceries and checks that North Korea is not building The Bomb.
More on this is going to bubble out, rapidly. Hang on.
RoadDave 