North said to deploy longer range missile

North Korea has deployed new intermediate range ballistic missiles capable of reaching key U.S. military posts, South Korean intelligence sources said yesterday.
The sources said the new missiles appeared recently at an air force base near the capital of Pyeongyang.
North Korea is expected to unveil the weapons publicly at its 55th founding anniversary parade today.
The missiles are believed to be modified from Soviet-era weapons.
“The missiles were deployed at the Mirim Airdrome, probably to display them at the military parade,” said a South Korean military intelligence official on condition of anonymity. Five launch pads and about 10 missiles were detected at the air base, he said.
Intelligence officials in Japan, South Korea and the United States have inferred from the unique shape of the missile’s warhead ― which resembles the top of a baby bottle ― that the North’s version was developed based on the Soviet-designed, submarine-launched SS-N-6.
The SS-N-6, developed in the 1970s, has a maximum range of 3,600 kilometers (2,237miles). The missile can carry a one-ton warhead and is capable of being nuclear tipped.
Soviet engineers transferred the technology to the North at the end of the Cold War. “The North Koreans began developing the new missile in the early 1990s, and producing them in 2000,” the source said. The North’s new missiles would be capable of reaching Okinawa, in Japan, and Guam, in the Pacific, both strategic U.S. military bases, he said.
Giving exposure to new weapons to gain an advantage during negotiations is a long-held North Korean tactic.
In 1993, Pyeongyang test-fired a Rodong missile before it entered bilateral nuclear talks with Washington. In 1998, it test-fired its Daepodong missile over Japan before missile talks with the United States.
At last month’s Beijing six-way talks, Pyeongyang warned it had means to deliver nuclear weapons. But by deploying new missiles on open ground ― where U.S. surveillance satellites can monitor them ― the North has effectively demonstrated its intent before going public.
“By developing this missile, North Korea is closer to building an ICBM [inter-continental ballistic missile],” another Seoul intelligence official said. Developing ICBMs that can reach the U.S. mainland is Washington’s ultimate nightmare.
“If North Korea displays the new missile publicly, Japan will react sensitively and the future six-way talks will be hindered,” he added.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan warned yesterday North Korea should not take any steps to hurt the talks.

by Lee Chul-hee