North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile that it believes can reach the west coast of the US, a Russian lawmaker just returned from a visit to Pyongyang was quoted as saying on Friday.
Anton Morozov, a member of the Russian lower house of parliament’s international affairs committee, and two other Russian lawmakers visited Pyongyang from Monday to Friday, Russia’s RIA news agency said.
“They are preparing for new tests of a long-range missile. They even gave us mathematical calculations that they believe prove that their missile can hit the west coast of the United States,” RIA quoted Morozov as saying.
“As far as we understand, they intend to launch one more long-range missile in the near future and in general, their mood is rather belligerent,” he added.
Morozov’s comments drove up the price of US Treasury bonds, as investors, worried about the prospect of new North Korean missile tests, moved into assets the market views as a safe haven in times of uncertainty.
Reuters was not able to independently verify Morozov’s account and he did not specify which North Korean officials had given him the information about the planned test.
In Washington, a US official said there had been indications that North Korea could be preparing for a missile test on or around Tuesday, the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party and a day after the Columbus Day holiday in the US.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not disclose the type of missile that could be tested and said that North Korea in the past has not staged launches despite indications that it would.
A senior CIA analyst, speaking at a conference in Washington this week, said the North Korean government would likely stage some kind of provocation on Tuesday, but did not say what form it might take.
“There is a clarity of purpose in what [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un is doing. I don’t think he’s done,” said Yong Suk-lee, deputy assistant director of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center, which was set up this year. “In fact, I told my own staff [that] Oct. 10 is the Korean Workers’ Party founding day. That’s Tuesday in North Korea, but Monday — the Columbus Day holiday — in the US. So stand by your phones.”
Morozov’s delegation had “high-level” meetings in Pyongyang, RIA news agency said, citing the Russian embassy in the North Korean capital.
China, North Korea’s main ally, has backed sanctions against Pyongyang and yesterday in response to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said it backed a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons.
“China has always supported a complete and total ban on nuclear weapons, but also believes that the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament cannot be achieved overnight and must advance gradually within the existing disarmament mechanism. China is willing to work with all parties to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Describing meetings with North Korean officials, Morozov said they “displayed serious determination and bellicose rhetoric,” RIA reported.
“The situation, of course, demands the swiftest intervention of all interested states, particularly those represented in the region, in order to prevent wide-scale military action,” the agency quoted him as saying.
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