(LEAD) N. Korea moving to launch long-range missile: source

(ATTN: RECASTS lead, headline; ADDS details, comments, background)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be preparing to launch an
inter-continental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, a
South Korean intelligence source said Tuesday, amid rising tension on the divided
peninsula.
The source said a train carrying a long cylinder-shaped object has recently been
spotted by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies, adding it is believed to
be a Taepodong-2 missile.
The preparation for the launch is likely to be completed in a month or two, the
source said, confirming another report from Japanese media that the launch is
imminent.
"The intelligence report by Japan appears grounded on facts," another official
said, speaking on customary condition of anonymmity.
Other officials at the South Korean defense ministry said senior commanders have
begun a meeting to discuss their response.
North Korea said last week it is scrapping all peace accords it has signed with
South Korea to ease tension along the heavily armed border.
The relations between the two countries -- which fought the truce-ended 1950-53
Korean War -- have soured significantly over the past year since South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak took office with a pledge to tie reconciliation to the
North Korean nuclear issue.
The intelligence comes after a U.S. international relations expert told Yonhap
News Agency last month that the North nearly completed the construction of a new
rocket-launch facility.
"I understand North Korea could launch a rocket from the facility as early as
this spring if the Paektusan-2, more commonly known as the Taepodong-2, is ready
for testing," Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst at the Brussels-based think tank
International Crisis Group, said on Jan. 29.
North Korea's long-range missiles such as the Taepodong-2 can technically reach
Alaska and western parts of the U.S., and are known to be capable of carrying a
payload of up to 500 kilograms.
The communist state, which conducted its first known nuclear test in 2006,
launched a Taepodong-1 over Japan in 1998.
It launched another missile, Taepodong-2, during a large ballistic missile
exercise in 2006, but it failed after about 40 seconds of flight, according to
outside intelligence assessments.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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