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North Korea says not bound by missile test pledges

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 08:50 CDT

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean official said on Tuesday the reclusive state does not feel bound by pledges it has made to halt test firings of long-range missiles, while regional powers have warned a launch would be a grave mistake.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday a North Korean long-range missile was on the pad but he was not sure if it was completely fueled.

He called on Pyongyang to scrap test plans, while analysts wondered if North Korea was using its tried and tested strategy of brinkmanship to increase its bargaining position.

U.S. officials say evidence such as satellite pictures suggests Pyongyang may have finished fuelling a Taepodong-2 missile, which some experts said could reach as far as Alaska.

But some U.S. officials said suggestions of an imminent missile launch were based on incomplete intelligence and satellite photos pointed to nothing conclusive, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry regards the issue of a long-range missile test as one "not bound by any statement such as the Pyongyang Declaration," Ri Pyong-dok, a deputy chief-level researcher at the ministry's Asian Affairs division told Japanese reporters on Tuesday, Kyodo news agency reported.

The Pyongyang Declaration was an agreement reached in 2002 between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Under that pact, Kim pledged to uphold all international treaties on nuclear issues, extend a moratorium on ballistic missile launches and resolve issues related to the "lives and security" of Japanese nationals -- a reference to Japanese kidnapped by Pyongyang's agents decades ago to help train spies.

Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington have said a launch would present a grave threat to regional security, while the United States and Japan have promised harsh action if the test flight goes ahead.

ON THE PAD

China, the North's closest ally, said it had no details of any test-flight preparations and called for calm.

"It is not sure that they have put the fuel in the rockets but it seems to be sure that they have assembled these missiles in the launching pad," Ban told reporters in Geneva.

South Korea's weather agency forecast overcast skies and storms on Wednesday in North Hamgyong province, where North Korea has a launch site, and said this should be the pattern for the rest of the week as a storm front moves through.

Analysts say clouds and storms would make it difficult for North Korea to track a missile once in flight, decreasing the likelihood of a launch.

"You don't want to test launch a missile into a storm," said Peter Beck, a Korea analyst in Seoul for the International Crisis Group.

Reports of test preparations coincide with a stalemate in six-party talks on unwinding Pyongyang's nuclear arms programs.

Some analysts believe that North Korea is piqued world attention has shifted to concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and angered at a U.S. crackdown that has frozen hard currency income from alleged illegal activities such as money laundering.

PLAYING A FINESSE GAME?

Beck said that by raising the prospect of a missile test, the Stalinist state had successfully grabbed global attention and rattled security concerns, but he was not sure if Pyongyang would scrap the launch in the face of pressure or go ahead.

"If they are really playing a finesse game they will back away but ... they are not known for their finesse game," he said.

Alexander Vershbow, U.S. ambassador to Seoul, told reporters any work on a potential delivery system, such as a missile, for a nuclear weapon creates a serious security threat.

Proliferation experts have said it is not likely North Korea has the technology to miniaturize a nuclear weapon so that it can be mounted on a missile.

In an official media report on Tuesday, North Korea called on Washington not to develop space-based weapons, saying it had a "deep-rooted scheme to gratify its ambition of world supremacy," but it did no mention its own missile or satellite ambitions.

North Korea shocked the world in 1998 when it fired a missile, part of which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. Pyongyang trumpeted that as a satellite launch.

"A missile launch is North Korea's second-biggest 'card' after a nuclear test, and they would have to seriously consider the timing," said Masao Okonogi, a Korea expert at Keio University in Tokyo.

"I think this is a bluff," he said.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Richard Waddington in Geneva, Jack Kim and Lee Jin-joo in Seoul, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Linda Sieg and Ted Kerr in Tokyo)

Source: REUTERS

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