US Fortifies Hawaii Against N. Korea Threat

Gates moves anti-missile system to islands ... just in case
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 18, 2009 3:28 PM CDT
US Fortifies Hawaii Against N. Korea Threat
South Korean Army soldiers sit on a K-9 self-propelled howitzer during a military drill against possible attack from North Korea.   (AP Photo)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he is positioning defenses near Hawaii just in case North Korea fires a missile across the Pacific toward the island state. Gates says he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems theoretically could detect and shoot down a North Korean missile.

Gates says the US is watching the North's moves closely. He says there is concern about a potential launch toward Hawaii, although he did not spell out how extensive the US thinks the threat might be. A Japanese newspaper reported today that North Korea might fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward Hawaii around July 4.
(More North Korea stories.)

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