We are on the frontlines of the North Korea missile dispute

WHEN North Korea launched a ballistic missile – which it claimed to be just a rocket to put a satellite in orbit – last Sunday morning, the missile flew by eastern South Korea, right over Japan’s Okinawa prefecture, then landed in the Pacific Ocean near Batanes in the Philippines.

The missile launch, coming a few days after North Korea claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb, was condemned by the United Nations (UN) Security Council as another “intolerable provocation” and moved to adopt a resolution to impose sanctions on the Pyongyang government.

While North Korea claimed it was just planning to send a satellite into orbit, the UN saw it as a test of ballistic missile technology, which is banned under UN Security Council resolutions. Neighboring South Korea and Japan feel threatened by the missile test. But it is the United States which is the most concerned; it believes North Korea’s ultimate goal is a nuclear-armed missile that can hit the US mainland.

The US is now considering the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea to keep close watch on the North, but China has expressed concern about a system whose radar could penetrate Chinese territory. A Japanese official said his country has no concrete plan to introduce the THAAD but the latest North Korean missile tests could push Japan into deploying the system.

The THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles during their final phase of their flight. The US now has a THAAD battery in Guam and could easily send one to Japan or South Korea within weeks.

The Philippines has joined other nations in condemning the launch which was in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and international calls for an end to the testing. It may not feel as threatened by the tests as the US or South Korea or Japan. But the fact is the missile tested last Sunday landed near Batanes. That should be a matter of great concern to our officials, as it shows we are not just an onlooker in this developing dispute. We are on the frontlines.