�We�re certainly not going to overreact ... to these wild statements out of Pyongyang and North Korea,� said Undersecretary R. Nicholas Burns. �We�ve seen them before.�
The North Korean Foreign Ministry, in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, insisted that the communist state had the right to missile tests and argued the weapons were needed for defense.
On Tuesday, the country launched several missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 missile � the object of intense international attention for more than a month � that failed 42 seconds after liftoff, suggesting a catastrophic failure of the rocket�s first, or booster, stage.
That heartened U.S. officials, since an earlier version of the missile � last tested in 1998 � failed later in its flight, apparently due to a third-stage malfunction. A working version of the intercontinental missile, with a top range of 5,000 to 7,500 miles, could potentially reach the United States with a light payload.
�One thing we have learned is that the rocket didn�t stay up for very long,� President Bush said Wednesday. �It tumbled into the sea.�
The South Korean press was reporting Thursday that the North had three or four short- or medium-range missiles on launch pads ready for firing.
Burns, asked on a round of morning television news shows about North Korea�s latest threat, said, �I think the North Koreans would like to pit the United States against themselves in a one-on-one battle of wills. We�re not going to fall for that.�
Instead, Burns said, the U.S. would work to muster international pressure on North Korea to �cease and desist� such actions.
�We are much stronger, frankly, from a diplomatic standpoint, and much better off if we have a wide of countries working together and sending the same message to the North Koreans,� Burns told CNN.
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