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Thursday, July 06, 2006
Politicians agree N. Korea missile launch worrisome
By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE missile test launch by North Korea Wednesday morning is a disturbing development, three Mindanao politicians agreed.
But they are quick to caution President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from immediately declaring full support for the United States.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the move of North Korea is provocative and highly dangerous that would surely have a ripple effect in Asia and the rest of the world.
"It's a very provocative and highly dangerous move, it will create further instability in the world and here in Asia. Since we (Philippines) are allied with US and anything that provokes trouble in Asia would somehow affect us, we might be unreasonably dragged into the situation," Duterte said.
House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said that although the Philippines is not directly threatened by North Korea's missile test-firing we may still be affected especially so that our country is a known ally and supporter of US.
"This may cause some tension in the area and the Philippines should take this seriously as we are closely allied with America. What America will do may tend to affect our own security as Philippines is pictured to be pro-America, right or wrong," Nograles said.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the North Korean's action "would surely raise the level of tension in our region."
Pimentel urged the Arroyo government to join in cautioning powerful countries like the US, Japan, and South Korea to be calm in dealing with the problem.
Nograles and Duterte also said that it would be best for the Philippines to refrain from issuing any statement on the incident for the time being and remain neutral while the tension is still very high.
North Korea has test-fired a long-range missile and five shorter-range rockets 3:30 a.m. local time Wednesday (2:30 p.m. Tuesday US Eastern Time) and lasted about five hours.
The tests began shortly after The Taepodong-2 missile, which some analysts say is capable of hitting the western US, failed after about 40 seconds, US officials said. The short-range missiles all landed in the Sea of Japan.
The missile tests have sparked condemnation around the world and the UN Security Council met Wednesday morning to discuss North Korea's actions.
The US, Japan, South Korea, and Australia were quick to react, but China, which last week urged North Korea to refrain from missile tests, made no initial comment.
A statement from the White House said the US "strongly condemns" the launches and North Korea's "unwillingness to heed calls for restraint from the international community."
"We are consulting with international partners on next steps," the statement said. "This provocative act violates a standing moratorium on missile tests to which the North had previously committed."
The US and Japan had urged Pyongyang to stick with the moratorium on long-range missile tests it declared in 1999, after it fired a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan in 1998.
Washington and North Korea's Asian neighbors have been trying to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear program since 2002. Analysts called the tests an effort by North Korea to redirect attention to those talks.
Intelligence agencies around the region had been watching preparations for the long-range test, but the shorter-range missiles were launched from a different site.
At least four of those missiles were variants of the Soviet-era Scud series, with ranges estimated from about 100 to over 600 miles.
The Taepodong-2 landed about 200 miles west of Japan in the Sea of Japan, a US military source said. (With reports from wires)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (July 6, 2006 issue)
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