-Caveat Lector-
I think they call it 'Ops check' and I think it worked ... I recall a time
at the firing range when a co-firer complained his rifle was jammed after
having fired only one round. The instructor when to check it out and found
the 'switch' for single round firing or clip firing was faulty -- fired the
clip in either position. Darned switches ...
""""""""""""""""""""""
Via Irish Times
WORLDSaturday, December 5, 1998<Picture>
Missile launch blamed on
'circuitory problem'
------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Korea: South Korean forces near the heavily militarised border
accidentally launched a fully armed antiaircraft missile yesterday that
exploded in mid-air, injuring at least three people.
Defence ministry officials said the missile was fired in the morning during
an equipment-checking drill at an air force base in the western port city
of Inchon, some 40 km from the border dividing the two Koreas.
The Korean air force later said in a statement that an electrical defect
occurred as soldiers turned on a switch which signified that all was ready
for inspection.
"Normally the missile cannot be launched with this switch," the statement
said.
"A circuitory problem, not human error, was the cause of the accident," it
added.
The statement said military authorities would continue to investigate the
reason behind the defect.
Air force Lt Col Lee Sung-ryol said earlier that an automatic safety device
caused the missile to self-destruct in mid-air three seconds after it was
launched because a target was not assigned to it.
The missile was fully armed, he said. Reports earlier had said the missile
was unarmed.
Fragments from the exploding missile hit a nearby residential area,
injuring at least three civilians and damaging cars and homes, Yonhap
Television News (YTN) said. The flaming debris also set off a fire on a
nearby hill.
One man was brought to hospital with head injuries from the missile's
fragments.
Local television showed images of damaged cars and broken windows from the
missile fragments. Police said 41 cars and nine homes and business were
reported damaged by the explosion.
Some 165 sq metres of trees and brush were burnt down by flames on the
hill, police said.
The missile was identified as a 34-year-old "Nike Hercules" with a target
range of some 160 km, designed for shooting down enemy aircraft and large
missiles, YTN said. The accident near the last Cold War frontier came as
North Korea was escalating its war of words with the US. - (Reuters)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From Sydney Morning Herald
Friday, December 4, 1998
KOREA
Seoul to pay for North's reactors
By JOHN LARKIN
Seoul: Cash-strapped South Koreans may be forced to open their wallets to
help pay for two nuclear reactors being built in North Korea, despite an
economic slump which has slashed their incomes.
The Government is considering boosting electricity prices by between 2 and
4 per cent to defray the cost of the $US4.5 ($7.25) billion reactors, which
are being built under a 1994 deal to mothball North Korea's nuclear menace.
Seoul will pay $US3.2 billion - about 70 per cent of the total bill. The
rest will be provided by other members of an international consortium
behind the light-water reactors, which produce only small amounts of
weapons-grade plutonium.
But a worsening economic slump means South Korea does not have the spare
cash to pay for the project.
An official said yesterday that it may resort to a price rise which would
only slightly boost the average monthly electricity bill.
Officials believe, perhaps a little hopefully, that Koreans would not mind
paying for peace, despite the fact that many oppose the idea of paying
blackmail money to a regime which does not even recognise their country.
With Koreans taking to the streets to protest against politicians who
failed to foresee the economic crisis, many will see the latest proposal as
adding insult to injury.
But it is not finalised yet. Newspaper articles outlining the plan
yesterday were seen as a ploy to gauge public opinion before pressing ahead
with consultations before new laws.
The cash grab comes as North Korea accuses the United States of driving the
Korean peninsula "to the brink of war" over its demand for inspections of a
suspected underground nuclear site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From Yahoo! in Asia News
Saturday December 5, 3:46 AM
"Great differences" with US on nuclear talks: North Korean
NEW YORK, Dec 4 (AFP) - US and North Korean delegates are faced with "great
differences" in talks over a disputed North Korean nuclear site which
opened here Friday, a North Korean delegate said.
The North Korean vice foreign minister, speaking through an interpreter,
said the talks were "not that smooth."
There are "great differences in our views," Kim Kye-Gwan said, during a
lunch break after an official round of negotiations.
And he repeated North Korea's rejection of proposed inspections at the
suspect site and Pyongyang's position that Washington should pay for
access.
The United States is demanding inspections of the suspected underground
nuclear site at Kumchangni, northwest of the Yongbyon nuclear complex which
was shut down in 1994 under a framework agreement between Washington and
North Korea.
Talks in Pyongyang last month foundered on North Korea's demand for 300
million dollars in compensation for allowing inspections of the Kumchangni
complex.
"We've been faithful to the agreed framework so far. And we were not
engaged in any nuclear activity. We have done nothing wrong," said Kim.
"That is why I really don't think inspections... are applicable."
"Our position is if someone is so suspicious about us, they should actually
pay for that," he added.
US special envoy Charles Kartman, who heads the US delegation, commented
that the mood at the talks was "quite serious."
The closed-door negotiations are expected to last two days at the US
mission in New York before concluding in Washington next week.
But South Korean officials, and sources here, were not optimistic about a
breakthrough ahead of the talks.
Washington has refused the reclusive communist country's demand for cash.
It has also warned that the 1994 deal under which Pyongyang agreed to
freeze its nuclear programme in return for energy and food aid is at risk
unless North Korea agrees to unconditional inspections of the site.
A day before the crucial New York talks, North Korea on Thursday escalated
a war of words with Washington, saying it was ready "to blow up the US
territory."
The threat came a day after North Korea's military issued a statement
saying it would answer a challenge by US troops with an "annihilating
blow," and accusing Washington of driving the Korean peninsula to the
"brink of war."
South Korean officials have said that the harsh words from North Korea
could be part of a bargaining strategy to drum up what appears to be a
crisis to gain concessions from Washington.
North Korea has been demanding that the State Department drop it from a
list of nations that the United States regards as supporting terrorism. It
also wants Washington to ease 48-year-old economic sanctions against it.
South Korea said that urgent efforts were needed to prevent a crisis on the
tense border, as the cash-strapped North was expected to rely further on
its military strength to survive next year.
Along with the underground site there are also fears in Japan and the
United States over reports that North Korea is ready to test-fire another
ballistic missile before the end of the year.
South Korea, however, has said it does not think a North Korean launch is
imminent, and Japan's defence chief Hosei Norota said Friday Tokyo had not
seen any sign of an immediate missile launch.
A US official said earlier North Korea would probably test fire another
ballistic missile before the end of the year, probably this month.
Pyongyang launched a rocket over Japan on August 31, which it said put a
satellite into orbit. The United States and South Korea said the attempted
satellite launch was a failure.
Suspicion about the underground complex, that Pyongyang insists is for
civilian purposes, arose after US intelligence spotted thousands of North
Korean workers building what appeared to be a secret new nuclear
installation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A<>E<>R
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes
but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
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