- Banned
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North Korea appears to be accelerating preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and provoke an incident near the western sea border, military and intelligence authorities here said Monday.
Tension has been growing on the Korean Peninsula since the communist state's second nuclear test and test-firings of short-range missiles last week.
An object presumed to be an ICBM was recently transported by train to the Dongchang-ri missile site, a newly-built long-range missile site located on North Korea's western coast, according to authorities.
In a related move, the North also banned ships from waters off its west coast until the end of July, an apparent sign of a further provocation near the sea border.
Citing an unidentified government official, Yonhap separately reported that North Korea has doubled ammunition for its patrol ships and artillery units deployed near the western coast and increased the number of joint live-fire exercises.
``North Korea has strengthened its military training exercises near the western sea border. Intelligence shows that the North has also conducted amphibious attack exercises, using high-speed landing vessels,'' the official was quoted as saying.
Observers expect North Korea to conduct an ICBM test-firing near the middle of this month when the South Korea-U.S. summit takes place in Washington, in a bid to further ratchet up tension on the peninsula and add pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.
``As it did before, North Korea will weigh in much on political impacts before provocative acts,'' Rep. Hwang Jin-ha of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) said in an interview. ``I believe that would be the case this time.''
Hwang, a retired major general, said North Korea appears not to have fully secured the ICBM technology. Many other analysts still believe Pyongyang has not mastered the technology of miniaturizing a nuclear warhead to mount on a missile.
North Korea's Taepodong-2 ICBM is believed to have a striking range of between 4,000 and 6,700 kilometers and be able to hit Alaska.
Last September, South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee confirmed that North Korea had almost completed a new missile launch site in Dongchang-ri, North Pyeongan Province.
North Korea has another long-range missile site in Musudan-ri on the eastern coast, where a Taepodong-2 missile and several short-range and medium-range missiles were test-fired toward waters off Japan in July 2006.
A senior official of the U.S. Department of Defense said last week that the U.S. military would activate its ground-based interceptors to shoot down an incoming missile from the North should Pyongyang fire an ICBM.
On April 5, North Korea fired a rocket from the Musudan-ri site, which was widely seen as a disguised test of the Taepodong-2 missile.
The rocket splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 3,000 kilometers after launch, South Korea and U.S. intelligence officials said. The Alaskan coast is about 4,800 kilometers from North Korea. <Koreatimes.co.kr>
Tension has been growing on the Korean Peninsula since the communist state's second nuclear test and test-firings of short-range missiles last week.
An object presumed to be an ICBM was recently transported by train to the Dongchang-ri missile site, a newly-built long-range missile site located on North Korea's western coast, according to authorities.
In a related move, the North also banned ships from waters off its west coast until the end of July, an apparent sign of a further provocation near the sea border.
Citing an unidentified government official, Yonhap separately reported that North Korea has doubled ammunition for its patrol ships and artillery units deployed near the western coast and increased the number of joint live-fire exercises.
``North Korea has strengthened its military training exercises near the western sea border. Intelligence shows that the North has also conducted amphibious attack exercises, using high-speed landing vessels,'' the official was quoted as saying.
Observers expect North Korea to conduct an ICBM test-firing near the middle of this month when the South Korea-U.S. summit takes place in Washington, in a bid to further ratchet up tension on the peninsula and add pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.
``As it did before, North Korea will weigh in much on political impacts before provocative acts,'' Rep. Hwang Jin-ha of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) said in an interview. ``I believe that would be the case this time.''
Hwang, a retired major general, said North Korea appears not to have fully secured the ICBM technology. Many other analysts still believe Pyongyang has not mastered the technology of miniaturizing a nuclear warhead to mount on a missile.
North Korea's Taepodong-2 ICBM is believed to have a striking range of between 4,000 and 6,700 kilometers and be able to hit Alaska.
Last September, South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee confirmed that North Korea had almost completed a new missile launch site in Dongchang-ri, North Pyeongan Province.
North Korea has another long-range missile site in Musudan-ri on the eastern coast, where a Taepodong-2 missile and several short-range and medium-range missiles were test-fired toward waters off Japan in July 2006.
A senior official of the U.S. Department of Defense said last week that the U.S. military would activate its ground-based interceptors to shoot down an incoming missile from the North should Pyongyang fire an ICBM.
On April 5, North Korea fired a rocket from the Musudan-ri site, which was widely seen as a disguised test of the Taepodong-2 missile.
The rocket splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 3,000 kilometers after launch, South Korea and U.S. intelligence officials said. The Alaskan coast is about 4,800 kilometers from North Korea. <Koreatimes.co.kr>
