North Korea is nearing completion of an installation to launch more advanced long-range missiles, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said today (see GSN, Oct. 9).
(Nov. 4) -
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee today said North Korea is completing a new missile launch site (Kim Jae-hwan/Getty Images).
The facility along the west coast of North Korea has been under development for eight years and is roughly 80 percent finished, Lee told lawmakers. He said the site is probably intended to fire “a bigger-sized missile or satellite projectile” than is possible at the nation’s east coast missile site, the Associated Press reported.
North Korea is believed to possess roughly 200 Nodong missiles that could be used to hit Japan, along with more than 600 shorter-range Scud-type weapons that could be fired at South Korea.
The regime’s Taepodong 2 missile is intended to have a range of more than 4,160 miles, meaning it could strike the western United States, AP reported. However, the missile failed in a July 2006 test and is believed to be inaccurate and to have a limited payload (see GSN, July 5, 2006).
Tests this year of a long-range missile engine indicate North Korea’s continued interest in producing a weapon able to reach distant targets, according to AP (Associated Press/Google News, Nov. 4).