To: donald sew who wrote (51195 ) 8/31/1998 10:26:00 AM From: ViperChick Secret Agent 006.9 Read Replies (4) | Respond to of 58727
Can someone who has been around tell me the last time we saw such a financial/political mess around the world? +Double D (25755 ) From: +flickerful Monday, Aug 31 1998 5:44AM ET Reply # of 25769 North Korea Test-Fired Missile Into Sea of Japan South of Vladivostok North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Into Sea of Japan (Update1) (Adds comments from Japanese officials, details about missiles) Tokyo, Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, the Japanese Defense Agency said. The information was received from U.S. forces based in Japan, the agency said. South Korea's defense ministry also confirmed the report, saying the missile was a ''Daepodong I'' which has a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles). The missile was launched shortly after noon Japan time from the east coast of North Korea and landed in the sea south of the Russian port of Vladivostok, to the northwest of Japan, at 12:12 p.m., Japan's Defense Agency said. Japan's coast guard dispatched two patrol boats and one plane to check whether any ships in the area were damaged, NHK television reported. ''It's a matter of regret that North Korea launched a missile,'' Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Teijiro Furukawa said on NHK television. The launch could have been a training exercise, said Masahiro Akiyama, vice minister of the Defense Agency. The firing of the missile resembles a test in 1993, when communist North Korea fired a ''Rodong'' missile into the Sea of Japan. The country will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on Sept. 9, when Kim Jong-Il, son of Kim Il-Sung, the late founder of the communist state, is expected to be elected president. Earlier news reports said the country was preparing to test-fire a medium-range missile in a show of strength to mark the election. The younger Kim has already succeeded his father as communist party head and supreme military commander. North Korea signed a 1994 agreement to abandon its pursuit of nuclear arms in return for $6 billion in international aid, although the country has complained in recent months that the U.S. hasn't honored its side of the accord. Recent Western intelligence reports say North Korea is building what could be a large, underground facility for developing and testing missiles and nuclear devices.