Chuck Hagel (AP)
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The United States will sharply expand its West Coast missile defense, signaling it’s taking the threat of a nuclear attack from North Korea much more seriously.
New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday that the Pentagon will add 14 interceptor missiles at Fort Greely, Alaska — and acknowledged the 26 already there performed poorly in tests.
“The reason that we’re doing what we’re doing . . . is not to take any chances, is to stay ahead of the threat,” he said.
The Stalinist regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told the country to be prepared for war and threatened a pre-emptive attack on Washington.
It vowed to turn Seoul, capital of US-protected South Korea, into a “sea of fire” and yesterday added to tensions by firing short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan.
Hagel’s announcement was an abrupt policy reversal by the Obama White House.
The Bush administration had wanted to install 44 interceptors on the West Coast, but President Obama shelved those plans and relied on the 26 in Alaska and four based in California.
Hagel said the new interceptors, designed to explode the warhead of an incoming missile, will be installed by 2017.
He said the United States will deploy a second missile-defense radar tracking system in Alaska.
US officials have said North Korea is years away from developing a nuclear weapon small enough to fit into a warhead that could hit an American target.
Hagel didn’t back off that assessment but indicated the Pentagon has become more concerned by threats from the outlaw state.
“The United States has missile-defense systems in place to protect us from limited ICBM attacks,” he said, referring to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“But North Korea, in particular, has recently made advances in its capabilities and is engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations.”
Pyongyang last month held its third nuclear-bomb test in defiance of UN resolutions and launched a satellite in December.
James Miller, the US undersecretary of defense for policy, said the new upgrade would cost about $1 billion.
Asked about the interceptors’ poor test results, Hagel said, “We have confidence in our system, and we certainly will not go forward with the addition of 14 interceptors until we’re sure we have the complete confidence we need it.”
Miller and Hagel said the United States will conduct environmental studies on three more potential locations for interceptors in the US, including on the East Coast, as required by Congress.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department said a senior official will visit Asia next week to discuss implementing new sanctions against North Korea and Iran.
David Cohen, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will see leaders in Japan, South Korea and China during his trip from March 18 to 22.
Also, the lead US official on North Korea will travel to Russia and Germany next week for talks with diplomats about Pyongyang, the State Department said.
American and North Korean officials have in the past used Berlin as a meeting point. But Glyn Davies, the US special representative for North Korea policy, has no plans to meet with Pyongyang representatives when he visits Berlin and then Moscow, officials said.