Regarding the March 14 front-page article "Pending launch raises tension level in Tokyo": Considering the performance of North Korea's first attempt at launching a Taepodong 2 missile — which failed and blew up less than a minute after launch — and considering the high population density of Japan, the launch scheduled for early next month should not be allowed to take place. Even if Japan does not appear to be in the missile's trajectory, another catastrophic launch failure could occur over a Japanese city just as easily as over water. Japan and the United States should do whatever it takes to prevent that missile from flying over Japan.
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