Assembly of a rocket is reportedly under way at a North Korean launch site, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Feb. 26).
Pyongyang says it is preparing to launch a satellite into space from the Musudan-ri facility, while the United States and other concerned nations suspect that the Stalinist state actually plans another test of its long-range Taepodong 2 missile.
"It appears that (the North) has begun assembling the rocket on the ground," a South Korean government official told the Yonhap News Agency (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Feb. 27).
A newspaper report also indicated that radar and related technology was being tested at the launch site, AFP reported.
"It seems that the North has begun preparations in earnest for a launch," a government source in Seoul told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, Feb. 27).
North Korea might reach launch readiness within the next two weeks but could delay action until late March or early April "considering the North's political schedule and the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Yonhap quoted its source as saying.
Seoul and Washington have scheduled a large-scale military exercise for March 9 to 20, followed by a summit early the following month, according to Yonhap.
"We will launch a satellite as planned," Kim Myong Gil, a North Korean diplomat at the United Nations, said yesterday. "Launching a satellite is part of a sovereign right which is universal. We've been exercising our sovereign right and will continue to do so. This cannot be negotiable."
Pyongyang last tested the Taepodong 2 in July 2006, only to see it fail less than one minute after takeoff. The missile is designed with a 4,000-mile flight range, though some analysts believe the regime might plan to test an improved version of the weapon that theoretically could hit the west coast of the United States.
The former lead U.S. negotiator to the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program became the latest official to publicly question Pyongyang's intentions, AFP reported.
"The North Koreans talk about it being a satellite launch," said diplomat Christopher Hill. "You can see that it looks an awful lot like a missile launch."
Hill said his successor, U.S. envoy on North Korea Stephen Bosworth, would address the missile threat next week while he visits other nations involved in the nuclear talks (see related GSN story, today; AFP I). The negotiations have been stalled since late last year over disagreements on the scope of verification activities to be conducted under North Korea's 2007 denuclearization pledge.
The head of U.S. Pacific Command said that with authorization from the White House it would fire on a North Korean missile in flight, the Korea Herald reported.
"If a missile leaves the launch pad we'll be prepared to respond upon direction of the president," Adm. Timothy Keating told ABC News. "I'm not a betting man but I'd go like 60/40, 70/30 that it will, they will attempt to launch a satellite. There's equipment moving up there that would indicate the preliminary stages of preparation for a launch. So I'd say it's more than less likely."
He added: "Should it look like it's not a satellite launch -- that it's something other than a satellite launch -- we'll be ready to respond" (Korea Herald, Feb. 28).
China reportedly sent its top nuclear negotiator to Pyongyang this week to warn the regime against a missile launch, AFP reported.
"Vice Foreign Minister Wu [Dawei] visited Pyongyang to deliver a message of concern over North Korea's preparations for the launch of a rocket carrying what it claims to be a communications satellite," an"informed source" told Yonhap. The source declined to say whether Wu was likely to persuade North Korea to forgo a launch (Agence France-Presse III/NADSDAQ.com, Feb. 26).
North Korea yesterday reacted angrily to the various warnings on the launch, the Associated Press reported.
Observers will see "what will soar in the air in the days ahead," said the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of (North) Korea, which also accused South Korea of "trumpeting about 'sanctions.'"
"If the puppet warmongers infringe upon our inviolable dignity even a bit ... we will not only punish the provokers but reduce their stronghold to debris," the committee said (Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 26).