Norks fire anti-ship cruise missiles toward US carriers

Independent:
North Korea fired several suspected short-range anti-ship missiles Thursday, South Korea's military said, in a continuation of defiant launches as it seeks to build a nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental United States.

The projectiles were fired from the North Korean eastern coastal town of Wonsan and likely flew about 200 kilometres (about 125 miles) while reaching a maximum altitude of about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. They landed in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, where US aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan participated in joint exercises with the South Korean navy that ended earlier this week.

The North's missile tests present a difficult challenge to new South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a liberal elected last month who has expressed a desire to reach out to Pyongyang. North Korea, which could have a working nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile in the next several years, may also be the most urgent foreign policy concern for the Trump administration, which has been distracted by domestic political turmoil and has insisted China do more to rein in the North's weapons activities.

Roh Jae-cheon, spokesman of Seoul's military, said the latest launch would have intended to show off its widening arrange of missiles and also its “precision strike capabilities” on ships in response to the joint drills.
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The missiles did not land close enough to trigger the US Aegis missile defense system which protects the fleet.  I suspect their missile launch facilities would be targetted in the early stages of hostilities with the US.  South Korea's new president has made a ridiculous demand before more US missile defense systems can be installed in his country.  You get the impression he is getting his defense ideas from the Onion instead of taking the North threat seriously.

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