This latest North Korean provocation should cause critics of Mr. Bush's missile defense initiatives to recognize that we must now as a matter of the utmost urgency develop and deploy missile defenses in the places where they can do the most good at the least cost - namely, at sea and in space.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Testing, testing

Japan recognized the betrayal inherent in Defense Secretary Robert Gates's announcement ahead of Pyongyang's newest provocation that the US would only shoot the missile down if it targeted US territory.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Surviving in a post-American world

The statement's harsh language and attribution to the North's National Defense Commission was also a sign that the younger Kim may engage in some kind of military provocation against the South to rally support for himself by portraying the North's citizens as under threat from Seoul.

WSJ: Pyongyang Resumes Hard Line On South