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| North Korea fires four short-range missiles amid nuclear standoff |
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United States ready for DPRK missile
Friday, July 03, 2009
SEOUL/WASHINGTON: North Korea on Thursday test-fired four short-range missiles, South Korean military officials said, further fuelling tension sparked by its nuclear standoff with the international community.
The missiles — apparently surface-to-ship ones — were fired into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) between 5:20 pm and 9:20 pm, defence ministry officials were quoted saying by Yonhap news agency.
All were fired from a base at Sinsang-ri, near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, a spokesman was quoted as saying.
Other officials told the agency on condition of anonymity they landed about 100 kilometres off the coast, where the North has imposed a maritime ban until July 11 for what it calls a military drill.
Spokesmen from the defence ministry confirmed the first three firings to AFP but could not be reached for comment on the fourth.
It was the first military action which the hard-line communist state had taken since the United Nations on June 12 imposed tougher sanctions for its May 25 nuclear test.
South Korea’s Joong Ang Ilbo newspaper, quoting an intelligence source, said the North in the coming days is likely to fire a series of short-range missiles.
Apart from ground-to-ship weapons, it said these would likely include Scud-B missiles with a range of 340 km.
The North may also fire Rodongs, whose 1,300-km range would likely be shortened to some 400 km for the current round of testing, the paper predicted.
In the days after its atomic test — the second since 2006 — Pyongyang had fired a total of six short-range missiles and renounced the truce in force on the Korean peninsula.
In response to the UN resolution tightening curbs on its missile and atomic activities, it vowed to build more nuclear bombs. US and South Korean officials believe ailing leader Kim Jong-Il, 67, is staging a show of strength to bolster his authority as he tries to put in place a succession plan involving his youngest son.
Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso condemned Thursday’s launches, telling reporters: “We have repeatedly warned that such a provocative act is not beneficial for North Korea’s national interest.”
In Beijing, a US delegation Thursday met officials for talks on giving the UN sanctions more teeth.
Meanwhile, a top US military commander said on Thursday the United States is ready to intercept any North Korean long-range missile as Pyongyang further tested international patience with fresh launches.
“The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defense capability,” the commander of US Northern Command, General Victor Renuart, told The Washington Times.
“Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California ... give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) that I’ve got high confidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any US territory.”
Washington has said it is not ruling out the possibility of a North Korean long-range missile launch toward Hawaii on or around July 4, the US Independence Day, although the Pentagon has expressed doubts about such a scenario.
But Renuart, commander of US NORTHCOM and the missile launch-monitoring US-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), warned “we ought to assume there might be one... and continue to be prepared and ready.”
The launches were “not unexpected,” said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. “North Korea is looking for attention,” added a US defense official who requested anonymity. It was the first military action by the hardline communist state since the United Nations on June 12 imposed tougher sanctions for its May 25 nuclear test.
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