White House Clarifies - "North Korea not an imminent threat to the US"

Just a couple weeks ago, the Administration was busy downplaying the threat of North Korea: (As covered in my post: Total BS: "North Korea not an imminent threat to the US")

President Obama’s national security adviser on Wednesday said that North Korea’s recent nuclear detonation and subsequent missile tests are not “an imminent threat” to the safety and security of the United States.

Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, in his first speech on the administration’s approach to national security, said that the “imminent threat” posed by North Korea is that of the proliferation of nuclear technologies to other countries and terrorist organizations.

North Korea still has “a long way” to “weaponize” and work on the delivery of its nuclear missiles before they pose a threat to U.S. security, Jones said in a discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council.

“Nothing that the North Koreans did surprised us,” Jones said. “We knew that they were going to do this, they said so, so no reason not to believe them.” - Hot Air

So I wonder, since when does something that is not an 'imminent threat' require defense against a threat they say does not exist:

Gates, speaking at the same news conference, said the Pentagon is concerned about the possibility of a North Korean missile launch "in the direction of Hawaii."

Gates told reporters at the Pentagon he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii, and positioned a radar system nearby. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their last stage of flight.

"We are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect Americans and American territory," Gates said.

A Japanese newspaper reported Thursday that North Korea might fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward Hawaii around the Fourth of July holiday. - Knoxnews

So is the planned North Korean missile launch pointed at Hawaii not a threat because they are pretty sure they can shoot it down or because they are pretty sure that the missile, even if it does strike Hawaii, will not contain a warhead, nuclear or otherwise? Then again, I bet the White House discussion a couple of weeks ago that decided that North Korea was not an imminent threat did not discuss the possibility of Hawaii being threatened. (Other than some analyst who was quickly dismissed from the meeting and who is now thinking 'I told you so' out loud.)

As for the threat that was recognized 'the proliferation of nuclear technologies to other countries and terrorist organizations' seems that the North Koreas have wasted no time in testing that theory as well.

The U.S. military is tracking a flagged North Korean ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday, FOX News has learned.

The ship, Kang Nam, left a port in North Korea Wednesday and appears to be heading toward Singapore, according to a senior U.S. military source. The vessel, which the military has been tracking since its departure, could be carrying weaponry, missile parts or nuclear materials.

"It is believed to be 'of interest,'" a senior U.S. official told FOX News.

This is the first suspected "proliferator" that the U.S. and its allies have tracked from North Korea since the United Nations authorized the world's navies to enforce compliance with a variety of U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its recent nuclear test. - Fox News

Just imagine that this is what we know that they are up to. What are they doing that we are not aware of yet...

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