20 July 2001
N.Korea Vows Countermeasures in Reply to U.S. Test
yahoo.com

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea vowed on Friday to take countermeasures in response to last week's test by the Defense Department aimed at intercepting long-range missiles launched against the United States.

``The DPRK is compelled to take a counter-action for self-defense by the U.S. deliberate provocation,'' a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Pyongyang's official Korea Central News Agency.

``A new global arms race has, therefore, become unavoidable. The DPRK will have nothing to lose even if all the points agreed upon between the DPRK and the U.S. are scrapped,'' the spokesman said.

The Defense Department will conduct about 20 missile intercept tests over the next five years as it tries to develop a missile shield to protect the continental United States against the threat of a long-range missile attack.

In a test last Saturday, the interceptor's ``kill vehicle'' launched from Kwajalein Atoll successfully destroyed a dummy warhead target on a Minuteman 2 intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, 4,800 miles (7,725 km) away.

It was the second of four such $100 million intercept tests to succeed. Two have failed. The next is set for October.

The Bush administration announced last month after a lengthy policy review it is willing to resume talks with North Korea on a comprehensive package of issues, including its missile program.

Pyongyang has yet to deliver a definitive response to Bush's proposal, however, while a high-ranking North Korean official on Thursday canceled plans to attend a key Asian security meeting at which he had been expected to hold talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell.