Before January 21, 2009, the United States attacks North Korea. For this claim to be judged true, U.S. military forces must engage North Korean targets at the direction of the U.S. President.
Some events that would satisfy this claim:
Note that the U.S. President must specifically premeditate and order this operation. An automatic response by U.S. forces to a North Korean action in a single incident would not constitute sufficient conditions for this claim to be judged TRUE.
Some events that would NOT satisfy this claim:
North Korea is one of three nations comprising the "axis of evil". The other two are Iraq and Iran. The United States launched a military attack on Iraq on March 19, 2003.
I will judge this claim based on its intent. Premeditation followed by a direct order from the President to engage N Korean targets is the key here. To determine whether an event was premeditated, I will require a statement from the U.S. President, the Press Secretary, or other cabinet level official stating that the President was consulted and issued a direct order to engage.
In order for a target to be considered 'North Korean', it must be operating at the direction of the North Korean government. For example, if a N Korean plane were hijacked and the US shot it down, this would not satisfy the claim.
The claim description lists a 'full scale invasion' as an event which would satisfy the claim, however, a significantly smaller invasion that may or may not be considered 'full scale' would satisfy it as well, so long as that action is premeditated and ordered by the President. Likewise, the claim lists the shooting down of a North Korean plane after crossing into prohibited airspace as an event which would not satisfy the claim. This would be true only if the President was not consulted prior to military action. While standing orders to 'return fire if fired upon', etc., are not grounds for a true judgement, if the President premeditates and orders the shooting down of a single plane the claim will be judged true.
