North Korean Missile Test

It's been revealed in the last couple of days that North Korea has imminent plans to test launch a long-range ballistic missile, known as the Taepodong-2, with a range of several thousand miles, giving it the ability to strike the continental United States. It is speculated that the Taepodong has the ability to carry a nuclear payload, though whether or not North Korea actually has a nuclear warhead that can be mounted on the missile is unknown.

As expected, this has set off a furious round of international negotiation, specifically among the parties to the six-nation talks that have been stalled since last year, including the United States and Japan. Despite the fact that the missile can at least in theory reach the United States, the country most threatened by any development in N. Korea's missile launching capability is Japan, as they most certainly are within range of the new N. Korean missile as demonstrated by the the test firing of a Taepodong-1 over Japanese territory back in 1998.

Secretary of State Condoleeze Rice has warned that the firing of the missile will be regarded as a "provocative act" (though importantly not a "hostile" one), leading some to speculate that the United States may respond with a request for further sanctions, or by taking the matter to the U.N. Security Council. But the response otherwise has been far from uniform. While all parties are concerned by this development, there is disagreement on what action should be taken next, if any. South Korea has favored for some time a relatively soft-line approach, while the United States has favored a more hard-line approach (though in a somewhat hands-off manner.) But that something needs to be done, is not a question.