Russia said the inevitable had happened: `Nothing on this Earth can stand still. Japan has now barged its way into our exclusive club. Whether or not she will become a welcome member will depend on the level of maturity with which she uses her newly declared power.' The Russian government made no criticism of Operation Dragonstrike.
South Africa described the test as a disappointing trend. `While South Africa and other nations voluntarily abandoned their programmes to go nuclear, Japan was secretly pursuing the path to creating the most destructive weapons available to man. We are waiting to hear what she hopes to achieve and more importantly what level of protection she will offer in treaty to non-nuclear governments and whether she will guarantee a no-strike policy against those of us without such weapons.'
The European Union said the test was a `regrettable and unnecessary change to Japanese policy'. Spain called for an immediate international conference to determine new rules for the nuclear powers. Britain spoke of `having to come to terms with the grim realism of international affairs. At the end of the day Japan is an ally of the democratic West.' Nothing should be done in the present `climate of unpredictability in the Pacific' to damage that alliance. France even came close to subtly contradicting the European Union statement. `It is regrettable that one Pacific rim country has committed an act of such unpalatable aggression to cause another to declare its nuclear arsenal. If it comes to conflict between China and Japan, the government of France will support the Japanese.'
Japanese early warning aircraft monitoring the theatre detected the launch of the Taepo-Dong ballistic missile from a site north of Pyongyang and within seconds South Korea fired Mark IV American-made Patriot missiles to intercept it. The Taepo-Dong had last been tested in 1998 and with a range of nearly 2,000 kilometres it could strike most places in North-East Asia. But the missile was destroyed well before it reached its intended target of Pusan, on the southern tip of the Peninsula. Then the Japanese spotted the mobile launchers for two shorter-range No-Dong missiles, both in the far north of the country near the Chinese border, where North Korea had built up its road and power infrastructure under the guise of creating a free-trade zone. Defence analysts believed the missiles were being moved out of hiding to launch places. While the defence network of Patriot missiles and early warning detection provided a formidable cover against attack, it was not watertight. The failure of Patriots against Iraqi Scud missiles during the Gulf War was a grim reminder of South Korea's vulnerability. Killings were continuing in Seoul itself and North Korean saboteurs had begun a second wave of terror in Pusan and Mokpo in the far south.
In Pyongyang itself there was a diplomatic silence. From Beijing Jamie Song, momentarily diverted from Dragonstrike, put a call through to the North Korean capital in an attempt to talk to Kim Jong-Il. But the Foreign Minister's secretary said that as soon as she spoke the line went dead. All other numbers were either disconnected or rang without being answered. The Chinese Ambassador in Pyongyang said he had been trying to talk to the leadership for the past two days. The German Ambassador, one of the few Western diplomats accredited to the city, reported no unusual activity. There had been air-raid practices but this was routine. The city was blacked out after dark. Blinds were drawn down the windows of the Koryo Hotel, the only hotel open. Spotlights which usually lit up the Arch of Triumph, the statues of the Great Leader, the Juche Tower, and other symbols of North Korean greatness were turned off. But no extra troops were being openly deployed in this graceful totalitarian city, with wide boulevards for military displays, drab apartment blocks for the people, and imaginative monuments showing off the godlike qualities of Kim Il-Sung. The only sign of an impending war was the increased level of vitriol against America and South Korea on television and radio. `Our dear leader Kim Jong-Il is a genius at military strategy and a genius at military leadership,' was one radio message. `We have nothing to fear from the imperialist American invaders and their South Korean puppet army.' Meanwhile a television announcer chastised the selfishness of Western society: `To pursue the right of the individual is to be no better than a worm,' he said. `We have nothing to fear from the guns and missile of worms, for when they face the courageous and unselfish soldiers of the Juche idea, the worms will wriggle and crawl back into the ground.'
A squadron of South Korean F-16 aircraft crossed the Demilitarized Zone low enough to be underneath the enemy radar. They split into three groups to attack North Korean radar and air-defence positions with precision-guided bombs. The operation took a matter of minutes, but not without cost. The North Korean anti-aircraft defences, tested for the first time ever, were on a high alert and responded with enough accuracy to destroy two South Korean aircraft. As the South Korean pilots headed for home, the North scrambled its own aircraft, many of them from concealed hangars inside mountain bases. Over the next thirty minutes, South Korean air defences shot down five MiG-21 fighter aircraft, attacking them with surface-to-air missiles and F-16 fighters on both sides of the DMZ. One North Korean slipped through the first defences and crossed into South Korea, only to point his aircraft towards the sea and eject. He was picked up by American troops and taken straight in for interrogation. A second squadron of South Korean F-16s flew high above Pyongyang and further north to the suspected missile launch sites. They used both free-fall and guided bombs at points in the mountainous area specified on satellite photographs. As they headed back, one F-16 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. The pilot died. The aircraft flew past a third squadron attacking radar and air-defence positions around Pyongyang, and a fourth which pounded the Yongbyon nuclear power facility, the focus of the North's nuclear weapons programme. For the next few hours, wave after wave of South Korean aircraft hit military installations in North Korea. Casualties were high. At the end of the day, South Korea had lost thirty-three aircraft. Only three pilots, who managed to nurse their planes back across the frontier, survived.
President Kim Hong-Koo spoke for less than ten minutes to Jamie Song in Beijing, after which he called a full meeting of the South Korean cabinet. `The Chinese government says it will support any action we take to neutralize North Korea. The view from Beijing is that the present regime in Pyongyang could destabilize the whole of the East Asian region.'
`But China itself is destabilizing the region,' interjected the Foreign Minister.
`China may well win in the end. North Korea is bound to lose,' answered the President. `Gentlemen, the way the Chinese Foreign Minister explained it to me was that we in Seoul had a duty to the region to bring stability back to the peninsula. China would play its part by offering diplomatic support and giving asylum to Kim Jong-Il and a select number of his cronies.'
`What will the Americans say?' asked the Foreign Minister.
`I can't see why they would disagree with China. A neutralized North Korea would be one less rogue state to deal with.'
The Chinese met little resistance when they crossed the border. The Vietnamese forces, on orders, simply melted into the jungle. The Chinese commander took this as a sign of cowardice. His motorized units pushed on and were at the outskirts of Lang Son within three hours. There they halted, and fatally there they waited for the column behind to catch up.