A South Korean soldier seen here looking towards a Scud-B missile mock-up (L) in September 2004 at Seoul war museum. The United States and Japan have warned North Korea to drop plans for a long-range missile test, warning it would be “grave and provocative.”

Associated Press: N. Korea denies it’s about to test missile

The United States and Japan urged North Korea on Saturday not to proceed with reported plans to test-fire a long-range missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. But North Korean officials denied such preparations, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing an unidentified South Korean official.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso met Saturday night amid mounting speculation the North could soon test a Taepodong-2 missile capable of reaching the United States with a light payload.

South Korean media reports said the North had loaded booster rockets onto a launch pad in preparation for the test.

After the meeting, Schieffer reiterated Washington’s stance that the test would be a dangerous act that would hurt North Korean interests. The North has been under a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile tests since 1999.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Scheiffer, left, gives a document to Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso prior to their meeting at Aso’s office in Tokyo Saturday, June 17, 2006. The two were to discuss ‘North Korea’s missile,’ said a ministry official on condition of anonymity citing policy. The meeting comes as Japanese and South Korean media reports said that North Korea loaded booster rockets onto a launch pad in preparation to test-fire a long-range missile that could reach as far as the U.S. mainland, with the launch expected as early as Sunday.

So, what is the United States response going to be? North Korea, unlike Iran, possesses nuclear weapons.

The Military Defense Agency has been busily preparing a missile defense for the United States, both land and sea based. Is it completed?

Doubtful, but probably adequate enough to deter a strike by the North Koreans provided it is made clear to Kim Jong-il that the United States would respond to ANY provocative nuclear act with its own nuclear strike against North Korea, including the acceptance of collateral casualities.

“We hope that the North Koreans will not take this provocative action. We hope that they will return to the six-party talks,” Schieffer said, referring to international talks aiming to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program.

Those talks — involving the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia — have been stalled by a North Korean boycott.

A launch “will only isolate the North Koreans further from the rest of the international community,” he said.

Schieffer said Washington was working with allies on how to respond if North Korea goes ahead with the launch, but he refused to be specific, saying only that “all options are on the table.”

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said a North Korean missile launch would violate a moratorium on long-range missile tests declared in 1999 by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

“This would be yet another instance of North Korea violating the international commitments it has made,” she said.

Aso told reporters that the situation was “serious” and that North Korea had been warned not to fire the missile. “How we will respond depends on what North Korea does,” he said.

Would a miitary strike on North Korea be possible?

Possible – on North Korea’s nuclear facilities.

A U.S. government official told The Associated Press on Friday that a test of the Taepodong-2 may be imminent. The Washington official agreed to speak but only on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Saturday that North Korea also moved about 10 fuel tanks to the launch site in preparation for the test.

It said intelligence authorities from Seoul and Washington had made the assessment, based on satellite images, that the North had loaded booster rockets onto a launch pad and moved the fuel tanks close by. The paper quoted an unidentified high-level South Korean government official.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho could not confirm the report.

Japan’s conservative Sankei Shimbun, citing government officials it did not name, said the Japanese government had dispatched two Aegis destroyers to the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Hidetsugu Iwamasa, a Japanese naval official, said he could not comment on the report, citing security concerns.

Would Japan use American made, ship based, anti-missiles to shoot down the North Korean, Taepodong-2.

You betcha and the hardware may be already on its way…….

More than likely……

And what would the range of the newly modified Taepodong-2?

Well, America’s West Coast and most of the major European Capitals would now be within reach of a nuclear attack from North Korea.

Stay tuned…….

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.

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