US Fortifies Hawaii Against N. Korea Threat

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he is positioning defenses near Hawaii just in case North Korea fires a missile across the Pacific toward the island state. Gates says he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems theoretically could detect and shoot down a North Korean missile.

Gates says the US is watching the North's moves closely. He says there is concern about a potential launch toward Hawaii, although he did not spell out how extensive the US thinks the threat might be. A Japanese newspaper reported today that North Korea might fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward Hawaii around July 4.
(More North Korea stories.)