YONHAP NEWS

N. Korea fires two short-range missiles in Yellow Sea: source

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired two short range missiles in the Yellow Sea adjoining China Monday as part of its routine military training, a defense source here said Tuesday.

"We understand that North Korea fired about two missiles in the Yellow Sea in the afternoon of the seventh (of October)," the source said. "It seems that the missiles were fired as part of their routine drill."

The missile launch, the first since March when a North Korean naval vessel fired three Styx missiles in the Yellow Sea, comes amid a flurry of diplomacy to break a new deadlock in the multilateral denuclearization talks.

   U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill last week made a three-day visit to Pyongyang, but apparently failed to agree to a verification regime as North Koreans would not accept U.S. demands for unfettered access to the North's nuclear facilities.

   Washington has yet to lift Pyongyang from a terrorism blacklist, citing lack of an agreement on the verification protocol, prompting the North to restart its nuclear facilities disabled under a six-party deal.

   "North Korea had designated an off-limit zone for vessels in the Yellow Sea before it fired missiles," the source said. "North Korea appears to have fired KN-02 or Styx missiles into the international sea from North Korean waters."
The North's short range missile launch follows recent reports that North Korea has tested an intercontinental missile engine, that could possibly reach the U.S. west coast, at its new launch site under construction on its west coast.

   South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told a parliamentary committee in mid September that the new launch site is about 80 percent complete.

   The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution in 2006 demanding that the North "suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program," and abandon its missile program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."
The resolution was issued soon after North Korea test fired a long-range missile in a break from its voluntary moratorium on missile testing imposed in 1998 to defuse international criticism after parts of a ballistic missile fell into the sea off Alaska.

   Alarmed by the North's surprisingly robust missile capabilities, the Clinton administration sent Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Pyongyang to arrange a summit meeting between Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

   Pyongyang and Washington agreed to a summit on the North's missile and nuclear issues, but Clinton failed to visit Pyongyang, citing a lack of time in the waning months of his term.

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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