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N. Korean taunts with missile launch

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The Washington Post

Published: July 5, 2009

TOKYO - Taunting the United States on its birthday, North Korea fired seven missiles into the Sea of Japan early Saturday in a provocative move that some experts said might have been intended to discourage deployment of new missile defenses against the communist state.

The Independence Day launch was the North's biggest one-day barrage of test missiles in three years. It drew strong criticism from countries in the region, as well as renewed resolve from the Obama administration to punish Pyongyang for its continued defiance of U.N. resolutions.

The seven rockets splashed harmlessly into the sea, and U.S. analysts said all appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles capable of striking targets less than 350 miles away. Some independent experts said the firing of multiple missiles may have been intended as a warning to adversaries that North Korea would seek to overwhelm their missile shields.
Pyongyang made no comment Saturday about the missiles. But launches had been expected this weekend because North Korea had warned ships to avoid waters near its east coast through July 10.

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