Free Republic

North Korea announced plans Friday to blast a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket, a provocative move that could jeopardize a weeks-old agreement with the U.S. exchanging food aid for nuclear concessions. The North agreed to a moratorium on long-range launches as part of the deal with Washington, but it argues that its satellite launches are part of a peaceful space program that is exempt from any international disarmament agreements. The U.S., South Korea and other critics say the rocket technology overlaps with belligerent uses and condemn the satellite program as a disguised way of testing...

Excerpt - TOKYO - North Korean officials denied that the country is preparing to test-launch a missile, a news report said Saturday, citing a South Korean official. Visiting officials from the North told a South Korean lawmaker that concerns over Pyongyang's possible missile test are "unfounded," Japan's Kyodo News agency reported from Seoul. ~ snip ~

North Korea has been working to determine an artificial satellite orbit since earlier this year in an apparent bid to cover up its possibly imminent test-firing of a long-range ballistic missile, military intelligence sources said Saturday. Pyongyang plans to announce the orbit of what it calls a satellite after it test-fires the missile so as not to draw flak from such countries as the United States, the sources told Kyodo News. On Thursday, a U.S. administration official said North Korea has stepped up its preparations for test-firing a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile in the past 48 hours and may...

Excerpt - SEOUL — U.S. reconnaissance planes have sniffed out how close the North Koreans are coming to test-firing a Taepodong II missile, which could reach the west coast of the United States. The success of U.S. spy flights off the east coast of North Korea, in the view of analysts here, explains why North Korea last weekend threatened to shoot down planes that intruded into its air space. U.S. and South Korean intelligence sources noted the language of the North Korean threat was considerably stronger than the usual almost ritualistic accusations concerning U.S. spy flights. Unlike previous rhetorical blasts,...

U.S. Officials Warn of N.Korea Missile Test ‘Next Week’ U.S. officials reportedly fear North Korea may test-fire a Taepodong-2 missile next week. "Putting together various signs and evidence, U.S. authorities believe that a launch within one week is possible," a South Korean government source said Thursday. Washington also claims that the movements it is seeing in North Korea are the same as those carried out before the North test-launched its Taepodong-1 missile in 1998. Experts speculate that the moves the U.S. says it has spotted may have been the deployment of target tracking and climate radar equipment or run-throughs. The...