US Warns – North Korea Test-fire of Missile Would Be Provocative

The U.S. warned North Korea that test-firing a missile would be viewed as “provocative” after reports the communist state was preparing a rocket launch days after declaring the Korean peninsula was on the brink of war.

“North Korea’s missile activities and, you know, its missile programs are of concern to the region,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters in Washington yesterday. “A ballistic missile launch by North Korea would be unhelpful and, frankly, provocative.”

U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies believe North Korea may be preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, Yonhap News said yesterday, citing an unidentified South Korean security official.

Kim Jong Il’s regime announced Jan. 30 it was scrapping all military and political agreements with South Korea, accusing the government in Seoul of pursuing confrontational policies that were pushing the nations toward conflict. Analysts said North Korea’s rhetoric may have been aimed at drawing the attention of the new Obama administration in Washington.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in 2006, has rejected international demands that inspectors be allowed to remove samples from its Yongbyon reactor, the source of the regime’s weapons-grade plutonium. The refusal has stalled six- nation disarmament talks that also involve the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

Taepodong-2 Missile

U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies recently observed a train carrying a long cylinder-shaped object believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile, Seoul-based Yonhap reported. The launch preparations are likely to be completed in a month or two, the news agency cited the intelligence official as saying.

via Bloomberg.com: Japan.

Man Dressed As UPS Driver Robs Check Cashing Store

The story is not terror related, rather it’s a reminder of why it’s important to be vigilant and ALWAYS  follow security procedures. This time it was a robbery however; the same scenario could just as easily have taken place in a shopping mall, school, government office or any number of other locations with much more serious consequences.

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A man dressed to look like a UPS driver robbed a Peoria check cashing store Monday and got away with about $50,000,police said. Read more