U.S. to bolster missile defense to deter any attack by North Korea

Published 1:47 pm Friday, March 15, 2013

By New York Times News Service, via Peninsula Daily News staff

THE UNITED STATES will deploy additional ballistic-missile interceptors along the Pacific Coast to increase the Pentagon’s ability to blunt a potential attack from North Korea, in a clear response to recent tests of nuclear weapons technology and long-range missiles by the North.

The new deployment will increase the number of ground-based interceptors to 44 from the 30 already based in California and Alaska.

While the limited missile-defense system does not offer a 100-percent guarantee of knocking down a North Korean attack, the weapons send a signal of credible deterrence to the North’s limited intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal.

READ MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/world/asia/us-to-bolster-missile-defense-against-north-korea.html?emc=na

For more, see timeline on North Korea’s Nuclear Program: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/05/world/asia/northkorea-timeline.html?ref=asia#/#time238_7085