Seoul/Washington: North Korea may be preparing for a new missile test-launch, US officials said, raising the possibility Pyongyang will take action as Donald Trump is sworn in as US president.
South Korean media reported movement of what could be components of an upgraded prototype of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
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North Korea close to test of ICBM
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says that the isolated nuclear-capable country is close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States was seeing activity in North Korea indicating a possible ballistic missile test, including positioning of two mobile missile launchers.
Still, the timing of the test and precise type of missile remained unclear, the officials said.
In his New Year's speech, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korea was close to test launching an ICBM, and state media has said a launch could come at any time. Experts on the isolated and nuclear capable country's missile program believe the claims to be credible.
The Pentagon declined comment on its intelligence about the North Korea threat, but spokesman Peter Cook assured reporters that Washington's readiness would be not be diminished during the US presidential transition, due to take place on Friday.
"I can't get into intelligence matters. I can't confirm what's been reported there," Cook told a news briefing.
"We would once again encourage North Korea not to engage in provocative actions that do nothing but destabilise the region."
![North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.](/web/20170120094041im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/l/g/w/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtv17a.png/1484851829067.jpg)
South Korean media said a test could potentially coincide with the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, South Korean media said.
Trump on January 2 tweeted, "It won't happen!" about North Korean ICBMs, although his precise meaning was unclear. The Pentagon has said it would not necessarily strike a test-launched ICBM if it did not pose a threat.
![Is North Korea planning a surprise for Donald Trump's inauguration?](/web/20170120094041im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/r/6/z/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtv17a.png/1484865372376.jpg)
South Korean intelligence agencies reported on Wednesday that they had recently spotted missile parts being transported, believed to be the lower-half of an ICBM, raising fears that a test-launch may be imminent, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified military sources.
"It was different from a conventional Musudan missile in its length and shape," the source told the Chosun Ilbo, referring to the Musudan intermediate-range missile tested by North Korea last year.
![A South Korean army K-1 tank moves during an annual exercise in Paju, near the border with North Korea.](/web/20170120094041im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/v/1/7/w/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtv17a.png/1484851828093.jpg)
"It is possible they were moving it somewhere for assembly," the source said.
A spokesman for South Korea's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Roh Jae-cheon, told a regular news briefing that while the reports could not be confirmed, the military was monitoring North Korea's ICBM development.
![A man watches a TV news program showing a file image of a missile launch conducted by North Korea, at the Seoul Railway ...](/web/20170120094041im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/v/1/7/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtv17a.png/1484851828093.jpg)
North Korea has in the past paraded mockups of a road-mobile missile believed to be an ICBM design dubbed the KN-08 by outside observers. It is also believed to have an upgraded version, the KN-14.
A road-mobile ICBM, which could be kept hidden or moving until fired, would make tracking and stopping a North Korean missile launch significantly more difficult.
The suspected ICBM is made up of two parts under 15 metres long and is shorter than the KN-08 and KN-14, the Yonhap News Agency said, citing unidentified military sources.
"I don't recognise the missiles from this description," said Joshua Pollack, editor of the US-based Nonproliferation Review. "But as we saw in 2016, there's certainly a variety of active missile programmes underway in North Korea".
"It's also possible that they are simply conducting field exercises with no plans to launch, or the option to launch if decided," said Pollack.
Last year, North Korea conducted a test of an ICBM engine made up of a cluster of smaller rockets, indicating it was working on an ICBM design.
Separately, the Washington-based think tank 38 North said on Thursday that operations at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility may have restarted. North Korea is believed to be able to reprocess plutonium at Yongbyon used in its nuclear warheads.
Reuters