North Korea may be preparing missile launch

TOKYO - North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile that could reach parts of the United States, Japanese media reports said today, but Japan's government said it did not believe a launch was imminent.

Quoting unidentified South Korean government officials, public broadcaster NHK said satellite pictures showed there had been signs since early this month around a site in northeastern North Korea that pointed to a possible firing in the near future.

Analysts have said, though, that development of a multiple-stage version of a ballistic missile that can take payloads deep into the continental United States is years away.

Japan's top government spokesman, Shinzo Abe, said he could not comment on specific security issues, but added, "At the moment, we do not believe that a launch is imminent."

Asked by reporters if the situation posed a threat to Japan's national security, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, "Japan maintains its security through deterrence under the Japan-US security alliance and I believe North Korea knows that."

He added he did not believe the situation was serious.

The latest reports come amid a deadlock in six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programmes, and ahead of a visit to China next week by the chief US negotiator to the talks that involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and host China.

The United States said a missile launch could heighten worries over North Korea's weapons and expose an unwillingness in Pyongyang to heed international concern over its military programmes.

"If, in fact, North Korea did launch a long-range missile, it would be a real source of concern to the international community," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

The concern would be over "what it says about North Korea and North Korea's desire to engage with the rest of the world and to address some of the concerns that the rest of the world has had about their behaviour," he added.

North Korea has said in numerous official media reports that it is building a nuclear deterrent to counter US hostility. The United States believes North Korea has one or two nuclear bombs and the ability to build more.

The United States said yesterday that Washington was open to discussions with North Korea on a peace treaty at the same time as the six-party nuclear talks, but that Pyongyang must return to the negotiating table first.

North Korea has long demanded a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

Some experts detected in the US stance at least a slight change in emphasis designed to entice Pyongyang back to the table and keep Asian allies from blaming Washington for the moribund diplomacy.

NHK said the missile appeared to be a Taepodong-2, which previous reports have said has a range of more than 6700km, making it capable of hitting Alaska with a light payload.

Quoting Japanese government sources, Japan's Kyodo news agency also said a launch could be imminent and the missile was probably a Taepodong-2.

A report in March by the California-based Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, a nongovernmental organisation, said North Korea did not have an operational missile that could hit the continental United States.

North Korea shocked the world in August 1998 when it fired a Taepodong missile that flew over Japan before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

- REUTERS