U.S. general says N.Korea tested advanced missiles
Pastor Dale Morgan
Monday July 2, 9:33 AM Reuters
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U.S. general says N.Korea tested advanced missiles*
By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's recent tests of short-range missiles
were successful launches of an advanced weapon that can be fired at
little notice to strike targets in South Korea, the commander of U.S.
Forces in South Korea said on Monday.
North Korea tested at least three short-range missiles over the past
month, with the latest test last week coming as U.N. nuclear inspectors
were in the country as a part of a disarmament deal.
"These (missiles) are modern, solid-fuel, which means that they are easy
to handle and rapidly capable of being fired," U.S. General B.B. Bell
said at a seminar in Seoul.
"These were not failure missile tests. These were successful tests."
The White House said last week it was "deeply troubled" by North Korea's
recent test-firing of short-range missiles, but officials in Seoul and
at the Pentagon in Washington downplayed them as routine and not
provocative.
"What I find very disturbing is that the North continues to test these
advanced short-range missiles," Bell said.
North Korea, which tested its first nuclear weapon last year, has more
than 1,000 missiles of various ranges, including 800 ballistic missiles,
capable of hitting all of South Korea and almost all of Japan,
proliferation experts have said.
"One of the biggest threats to peace and stability is the potential
capability of North Korea to couple its missile technology with its
demonstrated nuclear ability," Bell said.
Proliferation experts say it is unlikely that North Korea has developed
the technology to miniaturise nuclear weapons that would allow them to
be mounted on a missile.
North Korea defied international warnings and test-fired a barrage of
seven ballistic missiles about a year ago, including its long-range
Taepodong-2 missile.
Bell said one of the greatest threats South Korea faces is from the
massive amount of artillery the North has placed near the border with
the South, which includes 250 long-range systems capable of hitting
Seoul, only 50 km (30 miles) from the border.
"This is a very real threat which cannot be ignored," Bell said.
He hoped North Korea would live up to pledges it made in a February 13
nuclear deal among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United
States that called for Pyongyang to start shutting its reactor at
Yongbyon, a source of weapons-grade plutonium.