Spy satellites have spotted signs that North Korea may be preparing to transport another long-range missile to a test launch site, South Korean officials said yesterday, as the US secretary of defense issued his harshest warning to the North since its recent nuclear test.
“We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia — or on us,” US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a regional defense meeting in Singapore.
He said North Korea’s nuclear program was a “harbinger of a dark future,” but wasn’t yet a direct threat.
Since last Monday’s nuclear blast, North Korea has test-launched six short-range missiles in a show of force and announced it won’t honor the 1953 truce that ended the fighting in the Korean War.
Now, the reclusive communist state appears to be preparing to move a long-range missile by train from a weapons factory near Pyongyang to its northeastern Musudan-ni launch pad, a South Korean defense ministry official said.
Images of the movements were captured by US satellites, said the official, who was not allowed to be identified when discussing intelligence matters.
The threat of a long-range missile test comes amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program.
North Korea, believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least six nuclear bombs, walked away from international disarmament negotiations last month in anger over UN criticism of a rocket launch Washington and others called a cover for the test of long-range missile technology.
Experts say Pyongyang is working toward mounting a nuclear bomb on a long-range missile, one capable of reaching the US.
Gates and the defense ministers of Japan and South Korea said North Korea must not be allowed to continue playing a dangerous game of brinksmanship in hopes of winning aid.
“We must make North Korea clearly recognize that it will not be rewarded for its wrong behaviors,” South Korea Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said.
Officials in Washington said they noticed increased activity at the test site. They spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday, saying methods of gathering information about North Korea were sensitive.
Yonhap said the size of the missile was similar to a long-range rocket the North tested last month.
Experts have said the new three-stage rocket has a potential range of more than 6,700km, putting Alaska within its striking distance.
The North is likely to fire the missile shortly after the UN Security Council adopts a resolution criticizing its recent nuclear test, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.
The resolution is expected to call on all countries to immediately enforce sanctions imposed by an earlier UN resolution after Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006.
The sanctions include a partial arms embargo, a ban on luxury goods and ship searches for illegal weapons or material. They have been sporadically implemented, with many of the 192 UN member states ignoring them.
The draft would also have the Security Council condemn “in the strongest terms” the recent nuclear test “in flagrant violation and disregard” of the 2006 resolution.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in batches. Once all batches have been delivered, Taiwan would possess 111 HIMARS units and 504 ATACMS, which have a range of 300km. Considering that “offense is the best defense,” the military plans to forward-deploy the systems to outlying islands such as Penghu and Dongyin so that
‘CLEAR MESSAGE’: The bill would set up an interagency ‘tiger team’ to review sanctions tools and other economic options to help deter any Chinese aggression toward Taiwan US Representative Young Kim has introduced a bill to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, calling for an interagency “tiger team” to preplan coordinated sanctions and economic measures in response to possible Chinese military or political action against Taiwan. “[Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] has directed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. China has a plan. America should have one too,” Kim said in a news release on Thursday last week. She introduced the “Deter PRC [People’s Republic of China] aggression against Taiwan act” to “ensure the US has a coordinated sanctions strategy ready should
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS