US Advised Not to Overreact to NK Missile Launch
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Frank Jannuzi, a staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has urged President Barack Obama's administration not to overreact to a North Korean missile test, expected in early April.
In a seminar organized by the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., March 23, he advised reviving missile talks with North Korea in a bid to solve the issue.
The secretive state told international organizations on aviation early this month that it will launch a ``satellite'' into orbit between April 4 and 8, but the outside world has not ruled out the possibility of it testing a long-range missile.
``Overreaction would be shooting down the missile, taking out the missile from the launch pad, or suspending and terminating the six-party talks,'' he said.
He continued, ``If North Korea would not deploy, would not export, would not produce long-range missiles, it's cheaper than keeping an aircraft carrier to shoot it down, cheaper than keeping national missile defense in Alaska.''
The North's long-range Taepodong-2 missile is theoretically capable of reaching Alaska and Hawaii.
Jannuzi, who served as a key foreign policy adviser for the Obama election team last year, suggested troubleshooting via the resumption of dialogue.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also talked about the ``need to have a conversation about missiles'' with the North.
Missile talks were suspended after former President Bill Clinton withdrew an offer to visit Pyongyang to conclude missile and nuclear talks in 2000.
Recalling Obama's pledge to impose sanctions against North Korea again if it does not implement obligations, the planned missile launch would be a test for the new administration, Jannuzi said.