DJ North Korea May Be Preparing Missile Launch - Report
SEOUL (AP)--Military intelligence indicates North Korea might be preparing
to test missiles - a move that would be the latest provocation from the
communist country, a South Korean newspaper said Wednesday.
In the past few days, the U.S., Japan and South Korea have boosted their
monitoring of a missile base in Jeongju, 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang,
said the mass-circulation daily Chosun Ilbo, citing a senior South Korean
government official.
Beginning two or three days ago, "North Koreans began making moves at the
Jeongju base, such as moving mobile missile launch stations," Chosun quoted
the unnamed South Korean official as saying. "We are monitoring the movements
to see whether this was part of their training or they actually intend to
launch a missile."
The base is home to Scud-type missiles which have a range of 300 to 500
kilometers, and Nodong missiles with a 1,300-kilometer range. Most of Japan's
four main islands fall within Nodong's range.
South Korea's Defense Ministry "neither confirms nor denies" the report,
said a ministry spokesman, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.
The reported activities came as North Korea inveighed against this week's
multination naval exercise in Japanese waters, calling them a U.S.-led
"ultimate war action" against the isolated country.
Besides the U.S. and Japan, seven other countries are taking part in the
naval exercise. The drill is part of an anti-proliferation security
initiative, known as PSI, in which allied forces can intercept ships or
aircraft believed carrying missiles or equipment for unconventional weapons.
The exercise was initiated last year primarily to deter North Korea's trade in
missile and nuclear technology and components.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell - who visited Japan, China and South
Korea from Friday to Tuesday - has said Washington has no intention of
invading North Korea and wants to settle a dispute over its nuclear weapons
program peacefully.
Late last month, Japan said intelligence indicated North Korea was beefing
up troops and equipment around missile launch bases. Its media later reported
that the activity had subsided.
Suspicions over North Korean missile activities came as high-level,
six-nation talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons development stalled. A
round of negotiations with the U.S., South Korea, Japan, China and Russia were
planned for late September but were never held because North Korea refused to
attend.
Powell urged North Korea to return to the nuclear talks. But the North
blamed Washington's "hostile" policy against it for the delay, and said this
week that it would "double" its deterrent force.
North Korea rattled Japan in 1998 when it fired a test missile over its
neighbor's main island that landed in the Pacific.
The U.S. is preparing a new naval deployment in the sea off North Korea with
destroyers capable of monitoring ballistic missile launches from the North.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 26, 2004 20:52 ET (00:52 GMT)
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