Missile on move as N Korea threatens America

It was the North’s latest war cry against America. The reference to smaller weapons could be a claim that Pyongyang has improved its nuclear technology. Or a bluff.

South Korea’s defence minister said there were no signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a full-scale conflict. Kim Kwan-jin said he did not know the reasons behind the North’s missile movement, and that it “could be for testing or drills”.

He dismissed reports in Japanese media the missile could be a KN-08, which is believed to be a long-range rocket that if operable could hit the United States.

Mr Kim told MPs the missile has “considerable range” but not enough to hit the US mainland.

The range he described could refer to a mobile North Korean missile known as the Musudan, believed to have a range of 3,000 kilometres (1,800 miles). That would make Japan and South Korea potential targets – with US bases in both countries – but there are doubts about the missile’s accuracy.

The Pentagon announced it will deploy a missile defence system to the US Pacific territory of Guam to strengthen regional protection against a possible attack.

Experts say North Korea has not demonstrated it has missiles capable of long range or accuracy. Some suspect that long-range missiles unveiled by Pyongyang last year were actually mock-ups.

Kim Kwan-jin said if North Korea was preparing for a full-scale conflict, there would be signs including the mobilisation of a number of units, including supply and rear troops, but South Korean military officials have found no such preparations.

“(North Korea’s recent threats) are rhetorical threats. I believe the odds of a full-scale provocation are small,” he said. But he added that North Korea might mount a small-scale provocation such as its 2010 shelling of a South Korean island that killed four people.

Pyongyang has been railing against joint US and South Korean military exercises in South Korea and has expressed anger over UN sanctions for its February nuclear test. Many of the threats come in the middle of the night in Asia – daytime for the US audience.

Analysts say the threats are probably efforts to provoke softer policies from South Korea, to win diplomatic talks with Washington and to solidify the image of young leader Kim Jong Un.

At times, however, Pyongyang has gone beyond rhetoric.

On Tuesday, it announced it would restart a plutonium reactor it had shut down in 2007. A US research institute said yesterday that satellite imagery shows construction has already begun.

For a second day yesterday, North Korean border authorities denied entry to South Koreans who manage jointly run factories in the North Korean city of Kaesong. Those already at the plant were allowed home.

North Korea’s military statement, from an unnamed spokesman from the General Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, said its troops had been authorised to counter US “aggression” with “powerful practical military counteractions,” including nuclear weapons.