North Korea Moves Two Missiles To East

By Mark Stone, on the South Korea border

North Korea has moved two missiles to its east coast and loaded them on mobile launchers, South Korea's Yonhap news agency has said.

The move fuels fears of an imminent firing, which would further ramp up tensions in the peninsula.

"It has been confirmed that North Korea, early this week, transported two Musudan mid-range missiles by train to the east coast and loaded them on vehicles equipped with launch pads," Yonhap quoted a top government official as saying, according to AFP.

The official said the mobile launchers had since been hidden in special underground facilities, according to the report.

South Korea said earlier it had been seeking urgent information on one Korean missile that had been moved.

Intelligence officials from the US, Japan and South Korea are monitoring the movement of the weapons.

The Musudan missile is a mid-range weapon, meaning it is capable of reaching South Korea and Japan and perhaps also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

"The range is between 3,000 to 4,000km (1,864 to 2,485 miles). There are major US military forces in Guam and a fixed number of troops to deal with the Korean peninsula, so I think these facts can reduce the possible danger there," said Kim Min-seok, South Korea's Defence Ministry spokesman.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said daily reports from Pyongyang were "really alarming and troubling" and urged North Korea to ease tensions.

North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un has escalated his rhetoric

"Nuclear threat is not a game, it is very serious," he said, adding that any misjudgement or miscalculation could have "very serious implications".

Speaking to Sky News, a security adviser to the South Korean government said there is no doubt that North Korea's capability is concerning.

"The technological level of North Korean weapons has become much improved and better - especially their missile capability and their long-range artilleries," Kim Byungki said.

"It is more uncertain, it is less predictable, there are more ways for them to destabilise us and there are more ways for us to respond ... so it is more complex."

North Korea which, incensed at fresh UN sanctions and South Korea-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.

US soldiers give a demonstration of their chemical equipment in South Korea

America says it is taking "all necessary precautions" to respond to the daily threats from the North Korean leadership.

President Barack Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney, said the barrage of rhetoric fitted a "regrettable but familiar" pattern of North Korean behaviour.

The Musudan, which is manoeuvrable on the back of a specially designed mobile launch pad, is untested and its accuracy is unknown. Most experts believe the North Koreans lack the technological ability to mount a nuclear warhead into its tip.

However, it can carry a significant load of conventional explosives which could cause considerable damage.

It is not clear whether military commanders in North Korea have been given orders to fire the weapon in anger or as a test.

The South Korean military during an exercise near the border

There has been speculation that Pyongyang might schedule a firing to coincide with the birthday of the country's late founder Kim Il-Sung in mid-April.

Given the recent level of rhetoric delivered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and the number of US and South Korean military assets that are now in the region, the missile would be shot down within minutes of any launch.

The concern is that this could then lead to an uncontrollable escalation in military action by both sides.

Sky News' Asia correspondent Mark Stone says South Korean people are "remarkably unconcerned about the threats that are coming from the North. Why? Because they're used to it. They've heard it for so many decades now.

The US is preparing to move an advanced missile defence system to Guam

"They don't believe he'll press the button."

He added that governments are, however, concerned because Mr Kim, North Korea's new young leader, "is very unpredictable".

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

North Korea Moves Two Missiles To East

Dengan url

http://stopinarkoba.blogspot.com/2013/04/north-korea-moves-two-missiles-to-east.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

North Korea Moves Two Missiles To East

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

North Korea Moves Two Missiles To East

sebagai sumbernya