Report Says N. Korea Missile Aimed At Area Off Hawaii
Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - A Japanese newspaper reports that a North Korean missile launched on Wednesday was aimed at an area of the ocean close to Hawaii. Experts reportedly estimated the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile to have a range of up to 6,000 km, putting Alaska within its reach. Wednesday's launch apparently failed shortly after take-off and the missile landed in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, a few hundred kilometers from the launch pad. However, citing multiple sources, the Japanese paper, Sankei Shimbun, reports that data from U.S. and Japanese radar-equipped destroyers and surveillance aircraft on the missile's angle of take-off and altitude indicated that it was heading for waters near Hawaii. North Korea may have targeted Hawaii to show the United States that it was capable of landing a missile there, or because it is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific fleet. Meanwhile, a separate report in the Mainichi Shimbun daily quotes U.S. and Japanese government officials as saying a piece of the Taepodong-2 missile fell off immediately after take-off, strengthening the view that the launch was a failure.
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