The Rides and Tours

The Blue House chief of staff, Lee Byung-wan, slammed Japan yesterday[Jul. 21], calling its reaction to North Korea's missile launches "truly evil." He labeled Tokyo's talk of a pre-emptive attack on the North's missile facilities as a sign of "militarism and expansionism."

Why did Pyongyang launch the missiles? Mr. Lee said it was all political. "Nobody would believe that North Korea launched the missiles in order to show its intention and capability to wage war against the United States," he said. "No country in this world would provoke a war against the United States. He added, "We are right in our judgment that North Korea ventured the launches as a political demonstration to international society and also because of its internal needs."