Do the words “Pearl Harbor” suddenly come to mind?
North Korea targeted waters near Hawaii when it test fired a long-range missile this week, according to a Japanese newspaper.
Japanese and US defence officials, after analysing the missile’s path from intelligence data, have concluded that the Taepodong-2, had been targeted near the Pacific island, the conservative daily Sankei newspaper said.
The test missile was one of seven test launches launched on Wednesday that fell into the Sea of Japan, causing no damage.
The determination was reached by analysing the angle of its nose cone immediately after its launch and the altitude it reached, the newspaper said.
Defence experts analysed the missile target based on data collected by Aegis-equipped destroyers and RC-135S electronic reconnaissance aircraft, it said.
The Taepodong-2, North Korea’s most advanced missile, has a range of up to 15,000 kilometres and is believed capable of reaching parts of the United States with a light payload.
Hawaii is about 7,000 kilometres southwest of North Korea.
It was not immediately known why Hawaii was targeted, the daily said. But it said analysts believe Pyongyang may have been trying to show that the missile could reach the United States, or because Hawaii is home to the US Pacific Fleet’s headquarters.
Do you get a sense of deja vu?
Even if those words above don’t come to mind, here is one that seemingly does:
“Provocation.”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.