Hanging loose despite 'missile talk'

Lihue, HAWAII — Pretty, little Kauai, the smallest of the four most populous Hawaiian islands is also the closest to…North Korea.

Last week (June 18) when Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported that North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile some time around the Fourth of July, the report was given significant attention after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the U.S. is in a “good position, should it become necessary, to protect Americans and American territory.”

Gates, Pentagon officials, and on Monday President Obama expressed confidence that U.S. missile defenses offer adequate protection from a foreign missile launch, specifically North Korea’s most sophisticated long-range missile, the Taepodong-2 which is believed to have a range of up to 4,000 miles (about 500 miles short of Kauai).

The Pentagon announced that missile defenses would be beefed up in Hawaii, with the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system being deployed to the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai. In fact, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command on Oahu, orders to deploy THAAD were issued long before the current situation with North Korea.

PMRF, the world’s largest military testing and training range occupies 2,385 acres on the west side of Kauai, an island known more as a tropical vacation get-away than its hi-tech military testing and training facility.

The naval base (also called Barking Sands), employs about 65 navy personnel and nearly 800 civilians. PMRF is surrounded dry coastal plains and the longest continuous stretch of beach in Hawaii. The 17-mile ribbon of golden sand is considered epic coastline beloved by surfers, kayakers, fisherman and shell collectors; hardly the place one would expect to see a missile attack, but the base gives the island strategic importance.

For residents, the notion of the “Garden Island” as a potential target on a North Korean “list” seems surreal, bordering on the absurd, not to mention a serious breech of the “aloha spirit.”

But despite talk of a possible North Korean missile launch which might someday reach Hawaii, people on Kauai take the news in stride and life carries on as always – people shop at local farmers markets, they go to the beach, they mow their lawns.

What else is one to do?

More immediate concerns include preparing for another hurricane season, the state’s highest unemployment in 30 years (7.4 percent) and a continuing drop in Hawaii’s biggest economic driver tourism which has faced ongoing challenges since last year’s soaring fuel costs, the global recession, fears (mostly from Japanese travelers) about the H1N1 flu virus, and now this.

Not wanting to send confusing messages, or the wrong message, civilian and government officials are keeping mostly mum about the current North Korean situation. From tourism and State Civil Defense to the governor, PMRF and the Pacific Command Public Affairs office, no one has much to say, each deferring to the next higher level of bureaucracy, leaving public commentary to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who said, “We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile to the [west] in the direction of Hawaii.”

Unfortunately for Hawaii’s public image, this sort of talk is awfully vague and any missile launched to the east from North Korea, away from China and Russia, would be, at least technically, “in the direction of Hawaii.”

So if you’re thinking of taking a vacation to the Islands this summer, don’t let Kim Jong Il ruin your plans. The crowds are noticeably smaller, businesses and hotels are clamoring for patronage, and the water is warm and blue.

The one public notice PMRF has released publicizes its upcoming Stars & Stripes Freedom Celebration, this year on July 2.

Open to the public, the on-base event will feature fireworks, food, craft booths and live music. The event promises a “12-minute heart-pounding fireworks display” and requests “no pets, coolers, backpacks or weapons.”

Taepodong-2s strictly prohibited, the fireworks over Kauai are one aerial display Robert Gates won’t have to worry about.