North Korea may be preparing a ballistic missile launch from a base on its east coast in addition to its announced plans to fire a space rocket, Japan’s public broadcaster reported on Thursday.
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North Korea’s announcement that it would launch an Earth observation satellite between February 8 and 25 is widely interpreted as a plan to test a long-range ballistic missile.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United Nations needed to “send the North Koreans a swift, firm message”.
A former South Korean foreign minister, the United Nations chief said North Korea’s announcement was “a deeply troubling development” and offered his help to reduce tensions and facilitate dialogue with Pyongyang.
Pyongyang’s main ally, China, has called on the North to “exercise restraint, act with discretion and refrain from any actions” that might escalate tensions.
Also on Thursday, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiji Kihara met with representatives from nonpermanent U.N. Security Council members in Tokyo, asking them to walk lockstep with Japan to discourage North Korea from realizing its planned missile launch.
North Korea’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile program have been proceeding along separate but parallel paths, raising suspicions that the country is feverishly working on perfecting a bomb that could fit on the head of a missile.
Carter said U.S. Marines and other military forces stood ready to “fight tonight” on the Korean peninsula, part of a strategy aimed at deterring North Korea from ever launching an attack on the United States.
It urged North Korea to return to talks over its nuclear programme and other issues.
South Korea and Japan on Wednesday echoed the USA warnings that North Korea would pay a heavy price if it pushes ahead with a planned rocket launch just weeks after conducting its fourth nuclear test. Such propaganda leaflets had been a common sight of late in several residential areas near the demilitarized border separating South and North Korea.
“We have to state that by intending to violate the requirements of the UN Security Council once again, the DPRK shows defiant disregard of the universally recognized norms of worldwide law”, the Foreign Ministry official said, according to Xinhua.
The UN agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said Tuesday that it received official notice of the launch from North Korean authorities, who said the rocket is meant to put a satellite into orbit.
However, the website said it was impossible to tell from the satellite imagery whether a space launch vehicle was present.
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Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun also said the South’s military was ramping up its air defence readiness so it was ready to intercept any missile or debris falling in its territory.
