A military buddy of mine emailed me about the possibility of such a take-down a few days ago, but I (honestly) didn’t take it too seriously because it seemed like a stretch. But now Voice of America News, the official outside news service of the United States government, is reporting this:

Amid increasingly strong signals North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile, South Korea is warning that action would spark additional United Nations sanctions.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan dismissed North Korea’s implicit threat to test launch a long-range missile as part of its “space development program.” Yu says, whether it is a missile or satellite, if North Korea launches it, it will inevitably trigger sanctions for violating a United Nations Security Council resolution.

The United Nations imposed sanctions to punish North Korea’s 2006 test of its most-advanced long-range missile, which fizzled back to earth less than a minute into flight. More UN sanctions followed, just three month later, when Pyongyang conducted an underground nuclear test…

The North Korean Taepodong 2 missile — the one experts believe is being prepared at an eastern launch site in the North — is hypothetically capable of reaching the western United States. American military leaders say they have not ruled out shooting it down, if it is launched.

I have very little to add to on this mark, but this won’t be the final North Korea-related news today. Fox News is reporting that North Korea threatened war on South Korea as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the south today. I’ll have that in a few minutes, so be sure to check out the homepage soon.