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Japan alarmed by nkorea missile test { June 20 2006 }

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   http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0a0f2300-006e-11db-8078-0000779e2340.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0a0f2300-006e-11db-8078-0000779e2340.html

N Korea ‘is not bound’ by missile test ban
By David Pilling in Tokyo and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Published: June 20 2006 16:07 | Last updated: June 20 2006 23:59


North Korea on Tuesday declared that it was not bound by a moratorium on testing long-range missiles, and increasing fears that it would launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The North Korean threat follows days of escalating tension prompted by evidence that Pyongyang is preparing to test a long-range Taepodong-2 missile that could reach Japan and parts of the continental US.

Ri Pyong Dok, a North Korean foreign ministry official, told Japanese journalists in Pyongyang that a long-range missile test launch “is not bound by any statement such as the Pyongyang Declaration”, Kyodo news reported.

Mr Ri was referring to an agreement signed in 2002 between Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s leader, and Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s prime minister, in which Pyongyang promised not to test long-range missiles.

John Bolton, US ambassador to the United Nations, said members of the Security Council had begun “preliminary” discussions on how to respond to any test.

“We are discussing a range of things that fall within the Security Council’s domain given that this launch would constitute a threat to international peace and security,” Mr Bolton said in Washington.

US officials said on Tuesday that the US had activated its missile defence system but some analysts questioned whether the system would be capable of hitting an incoming missile.

Bryan Whitman, Pentagon spokesman, said: “The US does have a limited missile defence system but I’m not going to get into specific alert status or capabilities.”

Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, on Tuesday said the international community should respond to a North Korean test with a “firm and just” response.

A US official on Monday said Washington believed North Korea had fuelled the Taepodong-2 missile, a procedure that is difficult and dangerous to reverse, suggesting that a missile test could be imminent.

But Stephen Hadley, the White House national security adviser, on Tuesday said the evidence was “not conclusive”. But he added that North Korea seems “to be moving forward towards a launch”. Some media reports have suggested that bad weather over the missile launch site could be delaying the test.

Pyongyang caused an international crisis in 1998 when it fired an earlier version of the Taepodong missile over Japan into the Pacific.

The event was a catalyst for Tokyo’s decision to develop a missile defence shield in conjunction with Washington.

Both Mr Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary who has made his career being tough on North Korea, said this week that Japan would respond sternly to any missile test.

Additional reporting by Alexander Kliment in Washington





Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006




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