Reports: NKorean missile arrives at launch site

[Dantheman62]

By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer Jae-soon Chang, Associated Press Writer – 28 mins ago


SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea has shifted its most advanced long-range missile — capable of reaching Alaska — to a new west coast launch site near the border with China, reports said Monday, in a move that threatens to further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang also banned ships from the waters off the west coast through the end of July, reports said.

The regime could fire the long-range missile as early as mid-June — around the time South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and President Barack Obama hold a summit in Washington, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper in Seoul said, citing unidentified officials in Washington and Seoul.

The missile at the Dongchang-ni launch site on the northwest coast is believed to be a version of the Taepodong-2 rocket that the North fired on April 5 saying it was a satellite launch, the report said. The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper carried a similar report.

A new long-range missile launch would mark a significant escalation in tensions already running high after the North's April rocket launch and an underground nuclear test conducted a week ago. The U.N. Security Council has been discussing how to punish Pyongyang for the atomic blast.

North Korea also has custody of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, accused of entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts." Their trial begins Thursday in Pyongyang.

Lee, hosting a summit of Southeast Asian leaders on the southern island of Jeju, warned the North against any provocation.

"If North Korea turns its back on dialogue and peace and dare to carry out military threats and provocations, the Republic of Korea will never tolerate that," Lee said in a weekly radio address, using South Korea's official name. "I want to make clear that there won't be any compromise on things that threaten our nation's security."

North Korea also has designated a large area off its west coast as a "no-sail" zone through the end of next month, an indication Pyongyang could stage armed provocations around the disputed sea border, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified intelligence officials. The paper also said the North could launch the long-range missile in two weeks.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090601/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_missile

[Carol]

I thought things were a little too quiet. Well this will be interesting to keep watch over.

[Dantheman62]

By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer Jae-soon Chang, Associated Press Writer – 19 mins ago

According to Yonhap news agency, South Korea is also scrutinizing an intelligence report that the North has ordered troops in charge of the disputed western sea border and along the west coast to double their stocks of ammunition.

Yonhap cited an unnamed government official as saying that the activity of vehicles to and from military bases along the coast has increased. The Defense Ministry declined to confirm the report.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, hosting a conference of Southeast Asian leaders on the southern island of Jeju, warned North Korea against any provocation.

"If North Korea turns its back on dialogue and peace and dare to carry out military threats and provocations, the Republic of Korea will never tolerate that," Lee said in his regular radio address. "I want to make clear that there won't be any compromise on things that threaten our nation's security."

Lee said the North should understand that its nuclear threat to world peace threatens the regime itself.

The new missile could be ready to launch as soon as mid-June, and might be ready in time for a summit between Lee and President Barack Obama on June 16, according to the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper.

Timing the launch to coincide with the summit would be seen as an attempt to steal the spotlight from Lee and for North Korea to thumb its nose at attempts in the U.N. Security Council to rein it in after its nuclear test last week and a series of short-range missile launches it has already conducted.

Experts said the preparations for the launch were especially significant because the North has never launched a long-range missile from the northwestern base.

Kim Tae-woo, vice president of Seoul's state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said he thinks the North chose the new missile site because of its proximity to China, making it more risky for the U.S. to strike.

The site is about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the Chinese border city of Dandong.

Kim also said the North could be trying to diversify its missile operations. "From the Dongchang-ni site, it can fire a missile southward across the Yellow Sea," he said.

The North's Taepodong-2 rocket flew about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) on April 5, crossing over Japan and crashing into the Pacific Ocean. The missile being readied for a new launch is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), the JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing an unnamed South Korean official.

On Monday, the North said again that it is being provoked by South Korea and the United States, saying that the number of spy planes operating in its airspace has risen dramatically.

"The U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppets perpetrated at least 200 cases of aerial espionage against the DPRK in May, or 30 cases more than those in the same month of last year," it said in a report in its official Korean Central News Agency.

The DPRK is an abbreviation of North Korea's official name.

On Yeongyeong island, one of South Korea's northernmost islands near North Korea, South Korean naval boats and a warship were patrolling waters around the disputed western sea border, but no incidents were reported.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090601/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear