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Thursday June 29, 6:52 PMS. Korea believes N. Korea has not finished fueling missile(Kyodo) _ South Korea's state intelligence organization believes North Korea has not finished fueling a long-range missile it may launch, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday.The National Intelligence Service made the report to an intelligence committee session of the National Assembly, Chung Hyung Keun, who attended the closed-door session, said at a news briefing. Chung said the intelligence agency reported to the committee it seems at the moment that the missile has been installed at the launching pad but fuel has not yet been filled into the tanks. "It seems just fuel tanks are near the launching pad," Chung said, citing the intelligence report. The agency does not believe North Korea's moves concerning the missile launch are a mere bluff, but it is difficult to judge exactly when North Korea would fire the missile, Chung said. Intelligence reports say North Korea may be preparing for a test-firing of the Taepodong-2 missile, prompting warnings from Japan, the United States and South Korea that Pyongyang refrain from any such plan. The Taepodong-2 missile is believed to have a range of 3,500-6,000 kilometers. If Pyongyang launches the long-range ballistic missile that analysts believe could reach parts of the mainland United States, it would be the first time for the country to test a medium- or long-range missile in eight years. North Korea test-fired a 2,500-kilometer-range Taepodong-1 missile in August 1998, part of which flew over Japan and into the Pacific. Although North Korea has test-fired short-range missiles in recent years, it has refrained from testing longer-range missiles, abiding by a moratorium it agreed to with the United States in 1999. |
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