"It requires a certain level of technology to minimize the size of a nuclear warhead so as to build a missile that can be loaded with it. But we don't have information that North Korea has such technology," Senior Vice Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki said in parliament.

"So far North Korea has not carried out any nuclear experiment," added Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the top government spokesman and well-known critic of Pyongyang.

Japanese defense chief Fukushiro Nukaga, however, declined to answer the same question, saying that his agency did not have detailed information on North Korea's technological development.

But he said Japan was keeping a close eye on developments.

"The Defense Agency has been dispatching ships and planes to do their utmost in collecting information so that the Japanese people will not have to worry about it," Nukaga said.

North Korea in 1998 fired a long-range Taepodong-1 missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean and last year said it had nuclear weapons.

There have been a series of reports that North Korea is preparing to launch a Taepodong-2, believed to have a range of up to 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles) -- enough to hit Alaska and possibly Hawaii.

Japan's National Police Agency is taking no chances and planning response measures if a warhead has nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, chief Iwao Uruma said.

"We are formulating measures to deal with the problem by preparing for the worse case scenario of a missile launch," Uruma told a news conference.

"It is possible that the warhead or fragments would fall on Japan," he said.

Uruma said police were developing plans to deploy special riot squads or to carry out rescue missions if the need arises.

US President George W. Bush warned North Korea on Wednesday to honor pledges not to test a missile but his administration ruled out direct talks as suggested by Pyongyang.

North Korea has boycotted six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, which include the United States and Japan, since November.

It wants the United States to lift economic sanctions imposed over the communist regime's alleged counterfeiting and money-laundering.

North Korean Missile Launch Not Imminent Says Seoul

North Korea's planned test-firing of a long-range missile is not imminent, South Korea's Defense Minister said Thursday as Russia warned Pyongyang against threatening regional stability.

A senior Seoul official said separately the communist North has made no substantial moves for several days towards a firing.

"There are many processes to go through before firing such a missile. Given this, it (an imminent firing) is not the case," Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told a parliamentary hearing, the South's Yonhap news agency reported, easing widespread international jitters over a feared early launch.

Preparations for the launch of a multi-stage Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles) have been underway for several weeks at Musudanri on the remote northeast coast of North Korea. US reports last week said a launch was imminent.

Russia warned North Korea's ambassador Thursday against his country threatening regional stability with apparent plans to test a ballistic missile.

"The undesirability was underlined of any actions that could negatively affect regional stability (and) complicate the search for a resolution of the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula," the foreign ministry said.

China also joined the international community in voicing concern but the Seoul official said there was no clear progress towards a launch.

"There have been no additional substantial moves towards a missile launch during the last several days," said the official engaged in handling dialogue with North Korea, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

North Korea indicated Wednesday it was ready to put the launch on hold while offering dialogue with the United States.

Yonhap quoted the North Korean envoy at the United Nations, Han Song-Ryol, as saying: "The United States says it is concerned about our missile test launch. Our position is, 'Okay then, let's talk about it'."

On the same day a Korean-language newspaper in Japan, which has been used in the past as a mouthpiece by the North Korean regime, suggested that a launch had already been put back.

The Chosun Sinbo, published by pro-Pyongyang Koreans in Japan, said North Korea intended to launch a satellite rather than a missile and that the launch "can take place anytime. It may come in a month or in a year."

But defense minister Yoon, asked about the satellite claim, said it was not right to say the move is designed to prepare to put a satellite into orbit. On Thursday China joined in an international chorus of concern after Japan and the United States earlier warned of "severe action" if North Korea launched a missile. The United Nations, France and Australia have also expressed concern.

"We are very concerned over the current situation. We urge the relevant parties to do more in the interests of regional peace and stability," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

Experts believe North Korea had been sabre-rattling by threatening to launch a missile and that its goal was to force Washington into dialogue on its own terms.

But US President George W, Bush rejected the offer of dialogue under duress.

"This is not the way to do business in the world," Bush said at an EU summit in Vienna on Wednesday.

Washington has been criticized here and in China for maintaining a hard line against Pyongyang, but US officials insisted they would not be pressed into direct dialogue with it.

"I must say you don't normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles," said US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, a noted hardliner on Pyongyang.

Bolton, speaking Wednesday, said he was continuing consultations with other members of the 15-member Security Council on how to respond if North Korea went ahead with a test.

"What we're doing is what prudent diplomacy requires, which is having these consultations before the launch takes place so that we'll be in a position to respond quickly," he added.

South Korea, which has been slow to criticize North Korea in the past, has also threatened to withhold rice and fertilizer aid if a test goes ahead.

Charles Whelan in Seoul contributed to this report.

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