TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile that could reach parts of the United States, Japanese media reports said on Friday, but Japan's government said it did not believe a launch was imminent. Quoting unidentified South Korean government officials, public broadcaster NHK said satellite pictures showed there have been signs since early this month around a site in northeastern North Korea that pointed to a possible firing in the near future.
Analysts have said, though, that development of a multiple-stage version of a ballistic missile that can take payloads deep into the continental United States is years away.


Japan's top government spokesman, Shinzo Abe, said he could not comment on specific security issues, but added, "At the moment, we do not believe that a launch is imminent."
The latest reports come amid a deadlock in six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programmes, and ahead of a visit to China next week by the chief U.S. negotiator to the talks that involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and host China.
North Korea has said in numerous official media reports that it is building a nuclear deterrent to counter U.S. hostility. The United States believes that North Korea has one or two nuclear bombs and the ability to build more.
U.S. officials said on Thursday that Washington was open to discussions with North Korea on a peace treaty at the same time as the six-party nuclear talks, but that it must come back to the negotiating table first. North Korea has long demanded a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean war.

Some experts detected in the U.S. stance at least a slight change in emphasis designed to entice Pyongyang back to the table and keep Asian allies from blaming Washington for the moribund diplomacy.
NHK said the missile appeared to be a Taepodong-2, which previous reports have said has a range of more than 6,700 km (4,200 miles), making it capable of hitting Alaska with a light payload.
Quoting Japanese government sources, Japan's Kyodo news agency also said that a launch could be imminent and that the missile was probably a Taepodong-2. However, a report in March by the California-based Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, a non-governmental organisation, said North Korea did not have an operational missile that could hit the continental United States.


That report said Pyongyang was working on a solid-fuel missile, Taepodong-X, with a range of up to 4,000 km (2,500 miles) that could hit Japan as well as U.S. bases in Guam, but North Korea has yet to demonstrate its reliability through a test flight.
North Korea shocked the world in August 1998 when it fired a Taepodong missile that flew over Japan before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
NHK, quoting U.S. government officials, said if the missile was a modified version of the Taepodong-2, it could have a range of 15,000 km (9,300 miles), which would cover all of the United States. U.S. officials have said the North is developing longer-range missiles that could hit the continental United States.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-05-19T034749Z_01_T8989_RTRUKOC_0_UK-KOREA-NORTH-MISSILE.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTMod Loc=2

I'd really like to know what's going on in Kim Jong Il's mind right now, his people are starving so he launches test missles?

Soylent green is the answer.

Originally Posted by sandy

the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and host China.

The way things are shaping out to be this could the shape of the countries in another war... also gotta include Iran in there.

MoRtArSnCaLiBeRs

Originally Posted by MoRtArSnCaLiBeRs

The way things are shaping out to be this could the shape of the countries in another war... also gotta include Iran in there.

MoRtArSnCaLiBeRs

You seem excited about it.....

scares the out of me

Originally Posted by Springfield

You seem excited about it.....

Oh why thank you sir :P No I just think that's the shape of things to come possibly

MoRtArSnCaLiBeRs

deja vu
i swear I have heard words just like those before....

I don't think North Korea will go on with launching this missle. If they do, half of the world will jump on em for it, then another world war could break out.....BUT, people these days are dumb enough to try that, so I don't know......

N. Korea is swaggering, trying to intimidate others that they are in the process developing new capabilities. If North Korea is able to succesfully test its first Nuclear Weapon followed by a succesful development of the modified Taepodong 2, and then test the weapon over Japanese Airspace directly violating the sovereighty of foreign nation constitutes an immediate threat. Should N Korea develop its missiles and Nuclear Weapons, the country must strictly abide to the "no first use" policy. I hope the Hermit Kingdom become rational on this issue.