Free Republic

North Korea has begun fuelling a rocket for a launch that the West considers a missile test, a Japanese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a source "close to the government" in Pyongyang. "The launch is coming closer. The possibility is high that the launch date will be set for April 12 or 13," the source said according to the Tokyo Shimbun in a report from Seoul. It cited the source as saying that North Korea had begun injecting liquid fuel into the rocket. The paper also said a diplomatic source had confirmed that North Korea has moved the rocket to...

The military is mulling ordering the deployment of missile interceptors to shoot down any debris that could fall on South Korean territory in the event that a satellite bearing North Korean rocket strays from its planned trajectory. The Stalinist regime recently announced that it would launch a satellite from a long-range rocket sometime between April 12 and 16 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the April 15 birth of its founder Kim Il-sung. “We are preparing measures to track the missile's trajectory and shoot it down if by any chance it deviates from the planned route and falls into...

South Korea is preparing to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it strays into the South's territory during a launch planned for next month, the defence ministry said Monday. The South Korean and US military are closely monitoring activity at the Tongchang-ri base, a ministry spokesman said, a day after Seoul confirmed the main body of a rocket had been moved to the site in the North's northwest. Seoul is concerned that the first stage of the rocket, scheduled to drop into the Yellow Sea between South Korea and China, may fall onto the South's territory, the spokesman said....