The Roh government accuses the U.S., Japan and opponents here of making political capital of the missile crisis. If the North's missile tests were non-military actions, and "did not target any country," as the Roh government maintains, what was their point? Naturally, they were political. Even Cheong Wa Dae said they were "political events." It is self-contradictory then to accuse other countries of using them for political purposes. Saying North Korea's political maneuvers are fine but moves by its potential victims are bad because they are political shows how pro-Pyongyang this administration's thinking is. In that sense, Cheong Wa Dae?s response to the missile crisis is evidently "political." The difference, if there is one, is that the maneuvers of others are abuses, but ours are for a good cause.

Even if North Korea's display of military power is politically packaged, we should be on the alert. An examination of the specifications of the North?s missiles suggests that, assuming Pyongyang has any political sense, they target neither the U.S. nor Japan. The remaining target is the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. Kim Jong-il is neither so stupid nor so reckless as to provoke a world war. His gamble is always toward localized warfare. What South Korea must fear and guard against is a local war. That is the message the missiles send.