Gates: Missile defense in place for Hawaii in case North Korea fires missile
6/18/2009WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he's positioning defenses near Hawaii just in case North Korea fires a missile across the Pacific toward the island state.
Gates says he's 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 if it came to that.
Gates says the U.S. is watching the North's moves very closely. He says there is concern about a potential launch toward Hawaii, although he did not spell out how extensive the U.S. thinks the threat might be.
A Japanese newspaper reported Thursday that North Korea might fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward Hawaii around the Fourth of July holiday.