N. Korea gearing up to test-fire missiles on both coasts

By Sam Kim

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be preparing on both coasts to test-fire some of its most sophisticated ballistic missiles, stoking regional tensions already running high after its second nuclear test last week, South Korean sources said Tuesday.

North Korea, which set off an underground nuclear explosion on May 25, has
apparently moved an intercontinental ballistic missile to a launch site on its
west coast, a South Korean lawmaker said, quoting defense officials who briefed
him hours earlier.
A South Korean government source said that at lest three medium-range missiles
were being prepared at the Kittaeryong missile base on the southeast coast. He
and the lawmaker did not know how far those missiles would be capable of flying.
North Korea is believed to have about 800 missiles, including ones that can
theoretically hit Guam, which is approximately 3,000 kilometers from the
communist country and is home to a U.S. military base.
North Korea has deployed intermediate-range ballistic missiles in recent years,
but they have yet to be fully tested, the South Korean Ministry of National
Defense believes.
"Several mobile launch vehicles were spotted at the Kittaeryong site," the
government source said, declining to be identified. "We expect at least three
will be fired."
Earlier Tuesday, the lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was
told that an intercontinental ballistic missile has been moved to a newly built
launch site on the west coast.
"We've been briefed that an intercontinental ballistic missile was moved to
Dongchang-ri last week" from a munitions factory near Pyongyang, he said. "North
Korea may go ahead with simultaneous launches."
The legislator was visiting the ministry with fellow members of the parliamentary
national security committee to inspect the Joint Chiefs of Staff command chamber.
Jeong Se-hyun, a former South Korean unification minister, said later Tuesday
there is a possibility that North Korea will time its firing of an
intercontinental ballistic missile with a Seoul-Washington summit meeting
scheduled for June 16.
"The North will likely fire an ICBM on the day of the South Korea-U.S. summit in
a bid to foster direct negotiations with Washington as it did in 2006," Jeong
said in an interview with a local radio station.
North Korea, which fired six medium- and short-range missiles from the
Kittaeryong site in July 2006 when it tested a Taepodong-2 long-range missile, is
banned from further testing under a U.N. resolution.
Resolution 1718 was adopted after North Korea carried out its first nuclear test
in October 2006. South Korea and the U.S. believe the April 5 rocket launch by
North Korea was also a test of ballistic missile technology despite Pyongyang's
claims that it was meant to put a satellite in orbit.
Kittaeryong is located in Anbyon County, Gangwon Province. The province is shared
by the two Koreas that remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War
ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
The U.S., which has 28,500 troops stationed here as a deterrent against North
Korea, agreed with South Korea to step up their joint surveillance to the highest
level since 2006.
The allies believe North Korea could develop a long-range missile capable of
hitting Alaska and Hawaii if it perfects the technology. But they downplay the
possibility of the North having obtained the ability to miniaturize nuclear
warheads to tip intercontinental missiles with.