Smurf-Herder
02-03-2009, 08:32 PM
N. Korea Set to Fire Taepodong-2 Missile
North Korea is moving to test-launch a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, Yonhap News reported quoting South Korean officials Tuesday.
An intelligence source was quoted as saying a train carrying a long cylinder-shaped object has recently been spotted by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies, adding it is believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile.
Taepodong-2 missiles can technically reach Alaska and western parts of the U.S. and carry a payload of up to 500 kilograms, according to defense experts.
The preparation to launch the inter-continental ballistic missile is likely to be completed in a month or two, the source said, confirming a report from Japanese media that the launch is imminent.
"The intelligence report by Japan appears grounded on facts," an official at the Ministry of National Defense said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A spy agency official said he is unsure whether the North would actually carry out the launch, while defense ministry officials said senior commanders have begun a meeting to discuss their response.
North Korea said last week it was scrapping all inter-Korean peace accords signed to ease tension along the heavily armed border.
Relations between the two Koreas, which fought the 1950-53 Korean War, have soured significantly over the past year since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office with a pledge to tie reconciliation to the North Korean nuclear issue.
"This new missile is likely to be an upgraded one," Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, was quoted as saying. "We could even call it a Taepodong-3 missile."
North Korea test-fired a Taepodong-2 missile during an exercise in 2006 ― the same year it tested a nuclear device ― but the missile failed after 40 seconds of flight, according to outside intelligence assessment.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/113_38856.html
North Korea is moving to test-launch a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, Yonhap News reported quoting South Korean officials Tuesday.
An intelligence source was quoted as saying a train carrying a long cylinder-shaped object has recently been spotted by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies, adding it is believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile.
Taepodong-2 missiles can technically reach Alaska and western parts of the U.S. and carry a payload of up to 500 kilograms, according to defense experts.
The preparation to launch the inter-continental ballistic missile is likely to be completed in a month or two, the source said, confirming a report from Japanese media that the launch is imminent.
"The intelligence report by Japan appears grounded on facts," an official at the Ministry of National Defense said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A spy agency official said he is unsure whether the North would actually carry out the launch, while defense ministry officials said senior commanders have begun a meeting to discuss their response.
North Korea said last week it was scrapping all inter-Korean peace accords signed to ease tension along the heavily armed border.
Relations between the two Koreas, which fought the 1950-53 Korean War, have soured significantly over the past year since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office with a pledge to tie reconciliation to the North Korean nuclear issue.
"This new missile is likely to be an upgraded one," Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, was quoted as saying. "We could even call it a Taepodong-3 missile."
North Korea test-fired a Taepodong-2 missile during an exercise in 2006 ― the same year it tested a nuclear device ― but the missile failed after 40 seconds of flight, according to outside intelligence assessment.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/113_38856.html