Vol. 73/No. 14      April 13, 2009

Washington dispatched two Aegis-equipped U.S. warships into the area March 30 to monitor the launch. “Should it look like it’s not a satellite launch … we’ll be ready to respond,” said Adm. Timothy Keating, head of the U.S. Pacific Command last month.

The U.S. military carried out war exercises with the South Korean military involving more than 26,000 U.S. troops, 30,000 South Korean troops, and a U.S. aircraft carrier March 9-20. These war games were part of joint military exercises Washington has carried out with Seoul on and off since the 1950s and now each year since 1997.

Japanese defense minister Yasukazu Hamada ordered the deployment of land-to-air and sea-to-air missile interceptors March 27, reported the Financial Times. Asserting that his government wants North Korea to cancel its satellite launch, Hamada said, “We will make sure to eliminate anything that may cause us any damage.” Tokyo is mobilizing its military, sending batteries of Patriot missile interceptors to the northern region of Japan, and deploying two warships equipped with SM-3 antiballistic missiles.

In addition to Washington’s efforts to restore its monopoly on nuclear weapons capabilities, the campaign of the U.S. government and its allies against North Korea is part of more than 50 years of hostility stemming from Washington’s defeat by the workers and peasants of Korea in the wake of their socialist revolution in the 1950s. Since the 1950-53 Korean War, Washington has imposed the division of the peninsula along the 38th parallel as well as a variety of economic sanctions and travel restrictions over more than five decades. Washington also has about 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
 
 
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