YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) N. Korea moving to launch long-range missile: source

   By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be preparing to launch an inter-continental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, a South Korean intelligence source said Tuesday, amid rising tension on the divided peninsula.

   The source said a train carrying a long cylinder-shaped object has recently been spotted by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies, adding it is believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile.

   The preparation for the launch is likely to be completed in a month or two, the source said, confirming another report from Japanese media that the launch is imminent.

   "The intelligence report by Japan appears grounded on facts," another official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymmity.

   Other officials at the South Korean defense ministry said senior commanders have begun a meeting to discuss their response.

   North Korea said last week it is scrapping all peace accords it has signed with South Korea to ease tension along the heavily armed border.

   The relations between the two countries -- which fought the truce-ended 1950-53 Korean War -- have soured significantly over the past year since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office with a pledge to tie reconciliation to the North Korean nuclear issue.

   The intelligence comes after a U.S. international relations expert told Yonhap News Agency last month that the North nearly completed the construction of a new rocket-launch facility.

   "I understand North Korea could launch a rocket from the facility as early as this spring if the Paektusan-2, more commonly known as the Taepodong-2, is ready for testing," Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst at the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group, said on Jan. 29.

   North Korea's long-range missiles such as the Taepodong-2 can technically reach Alaska and western parts of the U.S., and are known to be capable of carrying a payload of up to 500 kilograms.

   The communist state, which conducted its first known nuclear test in 2006, launched a Taepodong-1 over Japan in 1998.

   It launched another missile, Taepodong-2, during a large ballistic missile exercise in 2006, but it failed after about 40 seconds of flight, according to outside intelligence assessments.

   samkim@yna.co.kr
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