North Korea Watch: Preparing to Launch A Long Range Ballistic Missile?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (2nd L) is seen alongside North Korean soldiers in North Korea, in this undated photo released by Korea News Service April 8, 2006. The United States is open to discussions with North Korea on a peace treaty at the same time as six-country talks on dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear programs, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

Reuters: N.Korea may be preparing missile launch: reports

North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile that could reach parts of the United States, Japanese media reports said on Friday, 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.

But, this is why President Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative or Star Wars in the 1980’s – now called the Missile Defense Agency.

The Missile Defense Agency website is here.

NHK said the missile appeared to be a Taepodong-2, which previous reports have said has a range of more than 4,200 miles , 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 Center for Nonproliferation Studies, a nongovernmental organization, 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.

Is this information of dis-information due to continuing on and off again negotiations with North Korea.

It is difficult to say.

But, the United States is preparing for missile defense in any event.

The latest reports come amid a deadlock in six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programs, and ahead of a visit to China next week by the chief U.S. 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 programs.

“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 behavior,” he added.

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

The United States said on Thursday 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.

Stay tuned……