(CNSNews.com) – With slim chance of a firm U.N. Security Council response to North Korea’s defiant long-range missile launch, U.S. lawmakers are pressing for a determined unilateral U.S. response, including returning Pyongyang to a list of terror-sponsoring states and stepping up investment in missile defense.
 
As anticipated, veto-wielding permanent council members China and Russia urged “restraint” Sunday as the decision-making body held urgent talks following the launch.
 
After the closed-door meeting ended without agreement, Chinese envoy Zhang Yesui said council reaction must be “cautious and proportionate.”
 
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said “actions that could make the situation even more tense” must be avoided, while Russia’s foreign ministry called for “restraint in judgments and actions.”
 
The council meeting was requested by Japan after North Korea on Sunday morning fired a multi-stage rocket which it claimed had placed a communications satellite into orbit.
 
The U.S. military said the rocket, which it identified as a Taepodong-2 long-range missile, had not succeeded in putting an object into orbit. The missile’s first stage landed into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, and the payload, along with the remaining stages, had landed in the Pacific Ocean, U.S. Northern Command reported.
 
While generally characterized as a failure, the launch did accomplish some progress for the North Korean program, experts suggested.
 
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the Pentagon’s missile defense agency until the beginning of this year, called the fact that the rocket had successfully surpassed its first stage “a significant step forward for any missile program.”
 
“The bottom line is they are continuing to advance in their ranges and I think it’s why it’s important that we have the ability to defend against these types of threats,” he told CNN.
 
Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, also pointed to the successful first staging, and said it appeared from early indications that the missile had traveled at least 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).
 
North Korea’s first Taepogong-2 test, in 2006, ended in failure just 42 seconds later.
 
By contrast, the missile launched at around 11:30 AM local time Sunday reportedly flew for about 18 minutes. Japanese officials said the country’s defense system tracked it until 11:48 AM, by which time it had reached a point about 2,100 kilometers (1,260 miles) east of Japan.
 
The Japanese military had been placed on high alert but made no attempt to shoot down the projectile as it passed over the archipelago, saying the falling debris posed no threat.
 
The missile launch drew widespread condemnation from around the world – significantly more than the reaction that met Iran’s successful satellite launch last February, which experts said essentially tested similar ballistic missile technology.

Pyongyang’s missile advances are regarded as a particular threat because of its confirmed nuclear weapons capability, although Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last month he did not believe North Korea had yet mastered the technology to mount a nuclear warhead onto a missile.
 
Diplomatic attempts to negotiate an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs through the “six-party” talks have been stalled since December, and the missile test is widely viewed as the latest bid by Kim Jong-il to pressure the U.S. and its allies to make more concessions.
 
In an earlier attempt to break a deadlock, the Bush administration last October met North Korea’s longstanding demand to be removed from Washington’s list of terror-sponsoring states, but progress in the talks was short-lived.
 
Sunday’s missile test prompted fresh calls for the U.S. government to reverse the delisting.
 
“Rather than only seeking more U.N. sanctions that failed to stop this launch in the first place, the administration instead should return North Korea to the terrorism list, tighten financial sanctions, and commit publicly and forcefully to addressing the abysmal state of North Korean human rights,” said Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas.
 
“The six-party talks were based on the principle of action for action, and now is the time to respond with real action.”
 
Missile defense funding focus
 
Brownback also urged the administration to push ahead with missile defense development, and not to cut funding for the programs.
 
Similar calls from Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the state which along with Hawaii would potentially be first to be targeted by a North Korean long-range ballistic missile.
 
Murkowski said in a statement she was “disappointed to hear continued rumors of budget cuts to our missile defense programs. The firing of this missile illustrates the critical role these systems play in our nation’s defense. In light of the actions taken by North Korea, now is not the time to make cuts to these essential programs.”
 
On Monday, Gates is due to brief congressional leaders and then publicly announce the restructuring of several defense programs, and speculation is rife that missile defense will be among the targets for budget cuts.
 
Apart from sea-based assets, the U.S. deploys ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California and as part of a vision for multilayered missile defense has for several years been planning another shield in Central Europe, designed to counter the threat from Iran.
 
The Obama administration applied the brakes on the European proposals, questioning its cost and effectiveness.
 
But President Obama, speaking in the Czech Republic on Sunday, said he intended to continue with the plans “as long as the threat from Iran persists,” repeating the conditions that the system be “cost-effective and proven.”
 
Anticipating that the North Korean launch would be used by missile defense advocates to call for more spending, critics are arguing against the move.
 
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said ahead of the launch that missile defense was not the answer, citing studies concluding that decoys built into missile designs could defeat anti-missile shields.
 
“If U.S. policymakers believe a missile attack is a significant security threat, it is irresponsible for them to advocate missile defense as a realistic response,” said David Wright, UCS global security program co-director.
 
“Doing so could create a false sense of security, divert defense dollars from more important uses, and reduce any incentive to develop more effective measures to reduce a missile threat.”
 
The USC argues that a sensible missile defense policy would give long-range anti-missile systems a much lower priority, while favoring stepped-up efforts to reduce the number of missiles and missile programs through international diplomacy.
 
‘Don’t end diplomatic isolation’
 
In the House of Representatives, meanwhile, the ranking Republican in the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, said she would introduce legislation requiring economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation to remain in place until North Korea changes its behavior.
 
“North Korea must abandon its illegal and destabilizing weapons programs and uphold human rights before it can reap the benefits and recognition afforded to responsible nations,” she said Sunday. “Pyongyang cannot have it both ways.”
 
Ros-Lehtinen also highlighted concerns about longstanding missile collaboration between North Korea and Iran.
 
“Our response to today’s belligerent demonstration by North Korea must not just send a message to Pyongyang about U.S. commitment to nonproliferation and protecting our critical security interests, but to Iran and other countries of proliferation concern.”
 
For Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the launch called for a multilateral reaction.
 
He said “a stern, unified response” was required from those involved in the six-party talks – the U.S., South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
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