South Korea Plays Down ICBM Fears

NUKEWARS

The South Korean government believed that the best solution would be for North Korea and the United States to take a step back.

by Martin Sieff
UPI Senior News Analyst
Washington (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
The South Korean government believes that some Japanese and U.S. officials are exaggerating the dangers of North Korea's anticipated missile test, a new report says. The South Korean government believes that even if North Korea test-fires a missile, it will not necessarily be a military device, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Monday.

South Korean officials regard reports in the U.S. and Japanese press that a North Korean launch is imminent as unreliable, the paper said.

Over the weekend, the South Korean government said it could not conclude that liquid fuel had been injected into the new North Korean long-range ballistic missile, as U.S. reports claimed, nor whether the missile carries a warhead or a satellite.

Indeed, South Korean authorities said the fact that the North Korean missile launch pad was being erected above ground in full view of U.S. surveillance satellites made it more likely that the North intended to launch its own space satellite, the Chosun Ilbo said.

The South Korean government believed that the best solution would be for North Korea and the United States to take a step back, the report said

The New York Times on Monday quoted an unnamed U.S. government official as saying North Korea appeared to have completed fueling a long-range ballistic missile, with U.S. satellite intelligence suggesting "that booster rockets had been loaded onto a launch pad, and liquid-fuel tanks fitted to a missile at a site in North Korea's remote east coast."

Source: United Press International

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NUKEWARS

US Military Would Use Defenses If North Korea Fired Missile At US

Washington (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
The US military would use any capability it has to protect the American people if North Korea launched a missile at the United States, a senior US defense official said Thursday. The official, however, said the US missile defense system would not necessarily be used if North Korea launched a missile that was headed into an open ocean.

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