North Korea Attacks Hawaii

A new missile launch though not expected to reach U.S. territory would be a brazen slap in the face of the international community which punished North Korea with new U.N. sanctions for conducting a second nuclear test on May 25 in defiance of a U.N. ban.

Any launching of a missile towards Hawaii would increase tensions and require an instant decision by the Pentagon on whether to attempt an interception which may not work.A failure by the US to shoot down such a missile might embolden the North Koreans.

The U.S. moves come as strains intensify between the U.S. and North Korea. Earlier this year Pyongyang test-fired a missile that flew over Japan before crashing into the Pacific Ocean. On May 25 Pyongyang detonated a nuclear device at a test site near its border with China drawing rare rebukes from Moscow and Beijing.

Theexercises called Invincible Spirit and include an Aegis-class destroyers with anti-missile systems the latest technology in order to repel the missiles of the type thatNorth Korea tested over the years.