The Bush administration has responded to a North Korean missile test by activating their own anti-missile system. From Reuters:
The United States has moved its ground-based interceptor missile defense system from test mode to operational amid concerns over an expected North Korean missile launch, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday. …
“It’s good to be ready,” the official said.
Unfortunately, we’re not “ready.” The interceptors the administration has placed in silos in Alaska have never been realistically tested and are known to have serious operational problems. They have "as much chance of hitting an incoming missile as a kid with a slingshot."
Fortunately, the missile the North Koreans may test does not work either. The last time they fired a long-range missile was in 1998, it went about 1300 killometers and failed to put its small payload into orbit.
