Global Security Newswire

A possible North Korean long-range missile test might be timed to coincide with U.S.-South Korean military drills this month, Bloomberg reported today (see GSN, March 2).

A Japanese defense official told the Sankei newspaper that satellite images show preparations are under way on a launch pad. North Korea would need up to one week to fuel a missile after it is erected on the pad, according to the report.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries have scheduled exercises for March 9 to 20 (Megumi Yamanaka, Bloomberg, March 2).

North Korea has indicated that it plans to launch a satellite into orbit from a facility on its northeastern coast. However, the United States and other nations suspect that Pyongyang is actually preparing another test of its Taepodong 2 missile, which is designed with a flight range of about 4,000 miles. The last test of the missile, in July 2006, ended in failure.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said today that even a satellite-carrying rocket would be fired on if it approached his nation, Agence France-Presse reported.

"If there's a possibility that an object could lose control and drop on Japan, the object becomes our target, including a satellite," Hamada said. "It's only natural for us to deal with it."

Tokyo might send two destroyers equipped with Standard Missile 3 interceptors into the Sea of Japan to prepare for a possible missile launch, Kyodo News reported (Agence France-Presse I/NASDAQ.com, March 3).

U.S. military personnel at Misawa Air Base in Japan are keeping a close eye on activities within North Korea, the Associated Press reported today. The base is located across the Sea of Japan from the Stalinist state.

"U.S. Army forces in Japan are always vigilant and more than capable of defending Japan from any threat, including ballistic missiles, and as always we are working closely with our Japanese allies," according to Maj. James Crawford, a spokesman for the U.S. Army in Japan (Eric Talmadge, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 4).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday there is a need for more detail on what exactly Pyongyang intends to launch, AFP reported.

"No one forbids anyone to launch satellites, but on the other hand, we must understand what kind of missile this is," Lavrov said. "We monitor the situation and expect that everyone will employ restraint and keep to the obligations based on the U.N. resolutions."

U.S. and South Korean officials have argued that any North Korean missile or rocket launch would constitute a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions passed in the wake of Pyongyang's 2006 missile and nuclear tests (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, March 2).