|
N.Korean missile test causes concern
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-09 09:09
North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles Wednesday, an unsettling
reminder of the reclusive communist regime's ability to cause instability in the
region where a standoff persists over its nuclear program.
A North Korean
soldier looks at the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom, the
demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, February 9, 2006. The White
House said on Wednesday that North Korea apparently had conducted a
missile test and the country's program posed a threat to the
region.[AP] |
The development underscored the dangers posed by the country's longer-range
missiles and professed nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang shocked Tokyo and other nations when it test-fired a ballistic
missile over northern Japan in 1998. It has since test-fired short-range
missiles many times, including one launched into the Sea of Japan in May. In
2003, North Korea test-fired short-range land-to-ship missiles at least three
times during heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
Japan's Kyodo News agency gave conflicting details about Wednesday's
launches, saying a security source in China told it the missiles were fired by
mistake in the direction of China and apparently landed in North Korean
territory.
However, the agency also quoted a Western military source as saying the
missiles were test-fired from North Korea's eastern coast toward the Sea of
Japan. At least one missile landed in the sea about 60 miles northeast of the
launch site, Kyodo said, citing a Japanese defense official.
"Indications are that North Korea launched two short-range missiles," White
House spokesman Scott McClellan said in an e-mail to reporters traveling with
President Bush. "We have consistently pointed out that North Korea's missile
program is a concern that poses a threat to the region and the larger
international community," he said.
The White House said Wednesday's launches demonstrated the importance of
six-party negotiations aimed at resolving the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear
weapons program.
"We work closely with our allies in the region on ballistic missile defense
and to maintain a strong deterrent against the threat North Korea poses,"
McClellan said. "We believe the six-party talks remain the way to get North
Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and deal with the threat from its missile
program and activities."
North Korea would be extremely hesitant to do anything to offend China, its
last major benefactor, and the type of missiles reportedly fired wouldn't pose
much of a threat far beyond its borders. Despite remaining technically at war
with South Korea, the sides have embarked on reconciliation efforts since a 2000
summit between their leaders, and many South Koreans don't view the North as a
threat.
Pyongyang recently has pursued diplomacy to resolve its nuclear standoff,
sending a top diplomat to New York for a briefing Tuesday by U.S. officials on
the country's alleged illicit financial activities.
The U.S. last year blacklisted a Macau bank and North Korean companies it
said were involved in counterfeiting, money laundering and weapons proliferation
錕斤拷 a move that prompted the North to boycott international arms talks. After the
New York briefing, the North maintained it won't return to disarmament
negotiations but said it has proposed ways to resolve the issue.
"At a time when North Korea is trying to play the diplomatic card, it
wouldn't necessarily make sense for them to try and pull out the military card
as well," said Jon Wolfstahl, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in Washington.
The commander of the U.S. military in South Korea, Army Gen. B.B. Bell, said
Tuesday in Washington that reports indicated the North was "preparing to field a
new intermediate-range ballistic missile which could easily reach United States
facilities in Okinawa, Guam and possibly Alaska," according to prepared
comments.
However, Bell noted the North Koreans had done "very little" in recent years
on long-range ballistic missiles. Instead, he said officials have seen
increasing work on short-range missiles that could be used on the Korean
Peninsula.
Besides producing a large number of weapons, Bell said North Korea also
"appears willing to sell to anyone."
It isn't known if the North has built a functioning nuclear weapon as it
claims, since the country isn't believed to have performed any nuclear tests.
Putting a device on a missile is even more complicated, and there's no evidence
the North has done that either.
Still, experts believe the North has extracted enough plutonium from its main
nuclear reactor for at least a half-dozen nuclear weapons or more 錕斤拷 a concern
that has lately been getting less attention due to the intense diplomacy
surrounding the Iranian nuclear crisis.
"We're getting 24-7 coverage on Iran 錕斤拷 which is still likely several years
away from being able to produce a single nuclear weapon 錕斤拷 and little coverage on
North Korea, which any day could shut down its nuclear reactor and obtain the
plutonium for what could be its 10th, 11th or 12th nuclear weapon," Wolfstahl
said.
___
Associated Press writers Hiroko Tabuchi in Tokyo and Nedra Pickler, who is
traveling with President Bush on the Gulf Coast, contributed to this report.
|
