Republican White House hopefuls talk tough after North Korean launch

(Reuters) - Republican White House contenders on Saturday called for a tough strategy toward North Korea, including expanded missile defense, after the reclusive communist nation appeared to have launched a long-range rocket into space. U.S. Strategic Command said on Saturday its systems had detected what it believed to be a North Korean missile launch that was tracked on a southern trajectory over the Yellow Sea. Republicans slammed President Barack Obama and previous Democratic administrations over the incident, as well as North Korea’s recent detainment of a U.S. university student who was traveling there on a New Year trip. "They do not understand anything but toughness and strength," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said of North Korea during the eighth Republican presidential debate. "We need a strong commander in chief who will look these folks in the eye and say, ‘We will not put up with this.’” Republicans on the stage in New Hampshire called for a range of responses, including new sanctions and a potential preemptive strike against North Korea’s missiles to prevent Pyongyang from hurting civilians. Republican presidential hopefuls have been blanketing New Hampshire this week in preparation for next week’s primary, one of the first in a series of contests to pick the party’s nominee for the Nov. 8 election. “The fact that we’re seeing the launch, and we’re seeing the launch of a nuclear North Korea, is the direct result of the failures of the first Clinton administration,” said U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. “The Clinton administration led the world in relaxing sanctions against North Korea.” Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and the wife of former President Bill Clinton, is seen as the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race. Officials had believed based on satellite images that North Korea was preparing for a rocket launch, perhaps as early as Sunday, when the United States kicks off the Super Bowl, the National Football League's championship game. Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, who leads in New Hampshire and nationally in opinion polls, called on Saturday for letting China deal with North Korea. "China says they don't have that good of control over North Korea. They have tremendous control," Trump said. "Let China solve that problem, they can do it quickly and surgically. That's what we should do with North Korea.” (Reporting by Emily Stephenson and Alana Wise; Editing by Paul Simao)