Wed, Oct 22, 2003 page5

• N Korea fires missile, Japanese media says

  CONFUSION Japan's state broadcaster NHK said that the communist country had launched its second rocket in two days, but South Korean officials failed to confirm it

  • REUTERS
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  Japan's state broadcaster said North Korea had test-fired a missile yesterday, but South Korea said it had no evidence of a second attention-grabbing launch by Pyongyang to coincide with a meeting of Pacific Rim leaders.

  NHK television said the communist North had apparently launched a short-range surface-to-ship missile, following a test-firing on Monday that US officials dubbed an attempt to steal the limelight at the Bangkok summit.

  But South Korea, which seeks to keep ties with its communist neighbor on an even keel, said it had no immediate proof of a second test launch, although there were conflicting signals about the likelihood.

  "Our system did not spot any missile launch today by North Korea," Kim Hyung-kyu, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs, said. "So, according to our analysis, the report is not true."

  A spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry said it had been unable to confirm the report.

  "This is what we can say for now," he said. "But we cannot say the NHK report is not true for sure."

  In Tokyo, Japan's Defense Agency said it had received a report "that North Korea may have fired a surface-to-ship missile from its east coast this morning."

  "We don't know the details but, as far as we know, missiles of this type have a range of 100km," a spokesman said. This is a distance of 60 miles. No further details were available.

  US President George W. Bush and other Asia-Pacific leaders wrapped up their Bangkok summit yesterday vowing to "eliminate the severe and growing danger posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery."

  The declaration contained no direct reference to North Korea and its nuclear program. But Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in a verbal statement that the countries agreed to address Pyongyang's security concerns, while demanding verification of the Korean Peninsula's nuclear-free status.

  On Monday, the North fired a similar missile into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan in what Seoul said appeared to be part of military exercises by the isolated communist country.

  It was the third such launch this year.

  Japan is particularly sensitive about the North's missiles.

  In 1998, North Korea shocked the world by firing a Taepodong ballistic missile over Japan's main island of Honshu and into the sea off Japan's Pacific coast.

  But, as in previous North Korean launches of short-range ballistic missiles, Tokyo played down the impact of yesterday's reported firing.

  "It poses no direct threat to Japan or its neighbors," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said.

  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, Moscow's top Korea expert, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying that any such launch was within North Korea's rights.

  "Even if this launch took place, I cannot see why this would be seen as some sort of extraordinary event. Our military launches missiles, as do the Americans," he said in Bangkok.

  Monday's launch was likely to increase international pressure on Pyongyang to exercise restraint as efforts continue to restart multilateral talks over its weapons program.

  Bush, in a policy shift to re-energize talks with North Korea, joined South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday in calling for a new round of talks after an inconclusive first meeting late in August.

  Military experts say test launches such as Monday's violate no agreements but are often timed for political effect.

  In similar vein, North Korea's media reported that leader Kim Jong-il had visited a military farm on Monday.

  Kim, 61, was last seen in public on Sept. 9, the 55th anniversary of the founding of North Korea.
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