Japan 'concerned' on Korea missiles
From news reports AP, Reuters, AFP - Monday, September 27, 2004
BEIJING Japanese negotiators expressed "serious concern" Sunday about North Korea's missile program, a Japanese diplomat said.
Japanese and North Korean diplomats held two days of talks here this weekend, focusing on the North's missile and nuclear program and the fate of Japanese citizens it abducted during the cold war.
"The Japanese side expressed serious concern about the missile issue," the Japanese diplomat said.
"The North Korean side said it is still conducting its investigation into its abduction issue," he said. "They made an oral report about the investigations, but it's not the final report."
Song Il Ho, the North Korean envoy, said that the two sides had discussed only the abductions. He insisted earlier that the North was not willing to discuss the possible missile test.
"I think that is a totally different issue and will have nothing to do with this talk," said Song, deputy director general of the Asian section of North Korea's Foreign Ministry.
During the talks this weekend, North Korea had been expected to disclose information about 10 missing Japanese nationals abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.
The kidnapping issue has been the biggest obstacle to the normalization of relations between the two countries.
The North had admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens - saying eight had died - during a 2002 summit between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.
The abductees were taken in the 1970s and '80s, apparently to train North Korean agents in Japanese language and culture.
Pyongyang allowed the five survivors to return to Japan, but Tokyo is still demanding further information on those that North Korea claims died.
The Japanese delegations were led by Akitaka Saiki, the Foreign Ministry's deputy chief for Asian affairs.
Japan, which is also seeking information on the fate of two others that it suspects were kidnapped by North Korea, has expressed frustration at the lack of progress in improving its relations with the North.
The talks were taking place against the backdrop of a report Sunday in the Japanese daily, Yomiuri Shimbun, that increased activity had been observed at about 10 missile bases in North Korea that could be seen as preparation for a launching.
But the presence of missiles themselves and their launching pads has not been confirmed, Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing sources in the Japanese and U.S. governments.
"We can't rule out the possibility that the activity was just a large-scale military drill," the newspaper quoted one senior official as saying.
On Thursday, South Korean military officials said data collected jointly with U.S. satellites and spy planes suggested that North Korea might be preparing to test-fire a missile.
Missile and other units of North Korea's three military services have been acting on orders mainly coming from a Rodong missile base in Sinori, northwest of Pyongyang, Yomiuri quoted the sources as saying.
A Rodong missile, with a range of some 1,300 kilometers, or 810 miles, can hit most areas in Japan.
Near these bases, vehicles carrying liquid missile fuel, other military vehicles, military personnel and missile engineers were seen gathering, the sources said.
But another Japanese daily, Sankei Shimbun, reported Sunday that North Korea might be preparing to fire a longer-range missile, the Rodong-B, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
This missile, a modified version of the former Soviet submarine-launched SSN-6 ballistic missile, has a range of up to 3,600 kilometers and can hit the U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam, the daily said.
Sankei quoted U.S. government sources as saying there had been "no evidence" to suggest the actual launching of a missile and that Pyongyang's moves could have been a "diplomatic, strategic ploy" to unnerve Washington or Tokyo.
North Korea stunned the world in 1998 by test-launching over Japan a Taepodong-1 missile with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers, claiming that it was a satellite launching. (AFP, AP, Reuters)
http://www.iht.com/articles/540650.htm
What is the CEP of the Rodong-B??
From news reports AP, Reuters, AFP - Monday, September 27, 2004
BEIJING Japanese negotiators expressed "serious concern" Sunday about North Korea's missile program, a Japanese diplomat said.
Japanese and North Korean diplomats held two days of talks here this weekend, focusing on the North's missile and nuclear program and the fate of Japanese citizens it abducted during the cold war.
"The Japanese side expressed serious concern about the missile issue," the Japanese diplomat said.
"The North Korean side said it is still conducting its investigation into its abduction issue," he said. "They made an oral report about the investigations, but it's not the final report."
Song Il Ho, the North Korean envoy, said that the two sides had discussed only the abductions. He insisted earlier that the North was not willing to discuss the possible missile test.
"I think that is a totally different issue and will have nothing to do with this talk," said Song, deputy director general of the Asian section of North Korea's Foreign Ministry.
During the talks this weekend, North Korea had been expected to disclose information about 10 missing Japanese nationals abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.
The kidnapping issue has been the biggest obstacle to the normalization of relations between the two countries.
The North had admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens - saying eight had died - during a 2002 summit between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.
The abductees were taken in the 1970s and '80s, apparently to train North Korean agents in Japanese language and culture.
Pyongyang allowed the five survivors to return to Japan, but Tokyo is still demanding further information on those that North Korea claims died.
The Japanese delegations were led by Akitaka Saiki, the Foreign Ministry's deputy chief for Asian affairs.
Japan, which is also seeking information on the fate of two others that it suspects were kidnapped by North Korea, has expressed frustration at the lack of progress in improving its relations with the North.
The talks were taking place against the backdrop of a report Sunday in the Japanese daily, Yomiuri Shimbun, that increased activity had been observed at about 10 missile bases in North Korea that could be seen as preparation for a launching.
But the presence of missiles themselves and their launching pads has not been confirmed, Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing sources in the Japanese and U.S. governments.
"We can't rule out the possibility that the activity was just a large-scale military drill," the newspaper quoted one senior official as saying.
On Thursday, South Korean military officials said data collected jointly with U.S. satellites and spy planes suggested that North Korea might be preparing to test-fire a missile.
Missile and other units of North Korea's three military services have been acting on orders mainly coming from a Rodong missile base in Sinori, northwest of Pyongyang, Yomiuri quoted the sources as saying.
A Rodong missile, with a range of some 1,300 kilometers, or 810 miles, can hit most areas in Japan.
Near these bases, vehicles carrying liquid missile fuel, other military vehicles, military personnel and missile engineers were seen gathering, the sources said.
But another Japanese daily, Sankei Shimbun, reported Sunday that North Korea might be preparing to fire a longer-range missile, the Rodong-B, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
This missile, a modified version of the former Soviet submarine-launched SSN-6 ballistic missile, has a range of up to 3,600 kilometers and can hit the U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam, the daily said.
Sankei quoted U.S. government sources as saying there had been "no evidence" to suggest the actual launching of a missile and that Pyongyang's moves could have been a "diplomatic, strategic ploy" to unnerve Washington or Tokyo.
North Korea stunned the world in 1998 by test-launching over Japan a Taepodong-1 missile with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers, claiming that it was a satellite launching. (AFP, AP, Reuters)
http://www.iht.com/articles/540650.htm
What is the CEP of the Rodong-B??