South Korea Says Has No Proof Yet of 2nd North Missile

Reuters | October 21, 2003

[HAL9000]

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's military said it had no evidence so far the North had test-fired a missile on Tuesday in what would be the second such attention-grabbing launch while Pacific Rim leaders met to discuss its nuclear ambitions.

Earlier, Japan's NHK television said communist North Korea had apparently launched a short-range surface-to-ship missile, following a test-firing on Monday that U.S. officials said they regarded as an attempt to steal the summit show.

But South Korea, which seeks to keep ties with its communist neighbor on an even keel, said it had no immediate proof of a second test launch, although there were conflicting signals about the likelihood.

"Our system did not spot any missile launch today by North Korea," Kim Hyung-kyu, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs, told Reuters. "So, according to our analysis, the report is not true."

A spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry said it had not been able to confirm the report.

"This is what we can say for now," he said. "But we cannot say the NHK report is not true for sure."

In Tokyo, Japan's Defense Agency said it had received a report "that North Korea may have fired a surface-to-ship missile from its east coast this morning."

"We don't know the details but, as far as we know, missiles of this type have a range of 100 km," a spokesman said. This is a distance of 60 miles. No further details were available.

President Bush and other Asia-Pacific leaders were wrapping up a summit on Tuesday that included talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program as well as world trade.

SIMILAR MISSILE ON MONDAY

On Monday, the North fired a similar missile between the Korean peninsula and Japan in what Seoul said appeared to be part of military exercises by the isolated communist country. That was the third such launch this year.

Japan is particularly sensitive about the North's missiles.

In 1998, North Korea shocked the world by firing a Taepodong ballistic missile that flew over Japan's main island of Honshu and landed in the sea off Japan's Pacific coast.

Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have played down previous North Korean launches of short-range ballistic missiles. Monday's launch was likely to increase international pressure on Pyongyang to exercise restraint as efforts continue to restart multilateral talks over its weapons program.

Bush, in a policy shift to re-energize talks with North Korea, joined South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday in calling for a new round of talks after an inconclusive first meeting late in August.

A top aide to Bush, however, said consultations were just beginning and it would take some time to come up with security guarantees to offer North Korea in exchange for it abandoning its nuclear program.

Military experts say test launches such as Monday's do not violate any agreements but are often timed for political effect.

In similar vein, North Korea's media reported leader Kim Jong-il visited a military farm on Monday. It was his first reported public appearance in 40 days.

Kim, 61, was last seen in public on September 9, the 55th anniversary of the founding of North Korea.

[claudiustg]

"In similar vein, North Korea's media reported leader Kim Jong-il visited a military farm on Monday. "

Military farm? They grow soldiers there? Or do they have pigs that salute? What in the world is a military farm?

[LenS]

It's a farm run by the military for the purpose of feeding the military. In a place as messed up as NK, it's the only way of guaranteeing that soldiers aren't starving (and thus thinking about overthrowing the govt.).