On the United Nations Command rear

Niall Clugston writes: Re. “Would Australia be forced to defend Japan from North Korea?” (Thursday)

The claim by Crikey journalist that North Korea fired a missile “across Japanese territory” is questionable. Reportedly, the missile was as high as 500 km (as would be expected for an ICBM). This was far above Japanese airspace, and was no more going “across Japanese territory” than the International Space Station goes across the territory of many nations around the world. I find it saddening, as someone who grew up in the “Space Age”, that so many people these days, rather than being space cadets, are actually profoundly ignorant about space, rockets, and even atomic bombs.

More importantly, I think the situation in Korea would be improved by more attention to accuracy in the reporting of what has actually happened. North Korea tested an ICBM, and it was successful. That’s it. The fact that it flew over Japan is irrelevant, just as the fact that space stations, satellites, and even the Moon cross the territory of various countries is irrelevant.

On the Clean Energy Target

Mark Freeman writes: Re. “Clean Energy Target: Labor should let them eat coal” (Thursday) 

Dear Crikey, could you ask Bernard to explain where he got his totally wacky 700 to 800 tonnes of coal per megawatt hour of electricity?

Please print a correction. Please consider an in service about basic units (MW compared to MWh for instance) and how to run basic fact checks via internet searches.