The Case for Preemptive Defense and Offense in the North Korean Chess Match

Photo via Reuters/KCNA

Even if only to protect the American mainland from Pyongyang’s aggressions, it is critical that we have the ability to shoot an ICBM from the sky.

Last week, North Korea launched a ballistic missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, sending residents scrambling for shelter. The missile was the second Kim Jong-Un’s regime has fired over its eastern neighbor in a month, and these tests come dangerously close to acts of war, especially considering North Korea’s statement that the Kim regime plans to “sink” Japan should sanctions continue.

So why didn’t Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe order his military to shoot down the missile? And why didn’t President Donald Trump or Secretary of Defense James Mattis do the same? While the missile crossed Japanese airspace, intercepting it wouldn’t have been an act of war. Plus, the Sea of Japan, the Pacific Ocean, and Hokkaido itself are dotted with missile-defense systems.

LINK: North Korea’s recent missile launch revealed 

as ‘new deadly KN-17 ballistic rocket'

In fact, these systems were powerless against the KN-17 launched by North Korea last Friday. The ICBM was flying too fast and too high for the Japanese Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors stationed at Hokkaido’s Chitose Air Base to have an effective shot at it. While those interceptors are designed to shoot down missiles in the final phase of flight, ships equipped with the Aegis system and armed with SM-3 interceptors throughout the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean could’ve intercepted the North Korean missile, but only if they had been in the right position when it passed over Hokkaido. Last Friday, they weren’t, and given that the missile barely grazed the outer limit of their range, it likely wouldn’t have mattered if they had been.

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