U.S. to beef up missile defense

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　　At a Pentagon press briefing, Hagel said that the newly- deployed⁴ interceptors will add to the 30 ground-based interceptors already in place at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and Fort Greely, Alaska by fiscal⁵ year 2017.

　　Hagel said the move was aimed to counter the threat from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), claiming that Pyongyang has "recently made advances in its (missile) capabilities⁶ and is engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations⁷."

　　The new interceptors would be deployed to Alaska, and could cover the entire United States, according to James Miller⁸, undersecretary of defense for policy. The Pentagon would also deploy² a second radar⁹ tracking station to Japan, where it already has one tracking radar.

　　"We will strengthen our homeland defense, maintain our commitment to our allies and partners, and make clear to the world that the United States stands firm against aggression," said Hagel.

　　Miller said that the total cost will be a little bit less than one billion dollars.

　　Tensions have been running high on the Korean Peninsula since the DPRK conducted its third nuclear test on Feb. 12 as a countermeasure against the joint¹⁰ military drills of the United States and the Republic of Korea. The DPRK also threatened to launch a preemptive nuclear strike for self-defense, and unilaterally nullified the 1953 armistice¹¹ that suspended the Korean War.

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