The North Korean Rocket's Red Glare

Those who have been working themselves too hard or partying too hard may not know about the missle that North Korea has poised to send through the skies of Iwate. But then if that's you you are probably not reading this either!

Just last Thursday President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi discussed "various measures of pressure" if North Korea fires the missile according to an article in the Asahi News. "In the first place, we should try and approach North Korea not to launch the Taepodong 2 missile," Koizumi asserted; to which Bush is reported to have replied, "Launching the missile is unacceptable."

But Aerial displays of power are nothing new to the seasoned Iwatean. At the height of the Cold War the Soviet Union sent weekly espionage flights, called the Tokyo Express from Sakhalin Island, past Iwate down to Yokosuka, an America naval base near Tokyo. The purpose of the flights was to observe the movements of U. S. Navy ships and test the automatic air defense warning system that was under construction at that time!

There is an interesting article about this in the Iwate Buddy newspaper archive.