DPRK missiles
SEOUL: The threat of a new missile test by North Korea eased on Friday after Pyongyang apparently removed a long-range missile from its launch site, a newspaper reported.
One month ago, North Korea test-fired several missiles, including a longe-range Taepodong-2 reportedly capable of hitting US soil. A second Taepodong that had been brought to the missile site prior to the July launch has now been removed from an assembly plant and taken to an undisclosed destination, the JoongAng daily said.
“Satellite photos show the second Taepodong-2 has been transported from Musudanri to an unknown place,” an unidentified intelligence official was quoted as saying. The missile could have been removed at night or under cloud cover to enable the North Koreans to make their move undetected by satellites, experts said.
South Korean media reports said officials were uncertain where the missile had been moved and intelligence sources cautioned that its removal could be only temporary.
The official quoted by JoongAng said North Korean technicians could be working on the second missile to improve it after analysing why the first launch apparently failed.
