IT WAS an awkward phone call to make. Acting on intelligence that North Korea was preparing to test-fire ballistic missiles last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade summoned the North Korean Ambassador to an urgent meeting at DFAT's office in Canberra. "We would like to see the ambassador," spelt out an exasperated DFAT officer who struggled to convey the message in English to the North Korean official on the line.The meeting between Chon Jae Hong and Peter Baxter, head of DFAT's North Asia division, was no less easy. Following instructions from the Foreign Minister, Mr Baxter delivered a grave warning to Mr Chon that if a long-range missile was fired — a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile capable of reaching Australia — there would be serious consequences for his impoverished, Stalinist-styled Government.
To the shock of the region and the world, the regime went ahead with the tests this week. Six missiles were fired across the Japan Sea in the early hours of Wednesday morning, including one Taepodong-2 missile that reportedly crashed into the water within a minute of being fired. A seventh was fired later that day. The tests, according to North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-il, were expressive acts of self-defence against the US.