North Korea appears to be preparing to fire a long-range ballistic missile, Japanese media reports said on Friday.
Satellite photographs showed activity near a missile test site in north-eastern North Korea last week that indicated a launch of a Taepodong ballistic missile could be imminent, the reports said, citing unnamed sources.
A report by the national broadcaster NHK cited South Korean government officials while the Kyodo News agency quoted a source familiar with the North Korean situation.
The Jiji Press news agency also carried a similar report that cited multiple unnamed sources as saying that the missile could be an intercontinental Taepodong 2, which, according to the US military, could be modified into a three-stage rocket with a range that could carry a nuclear warhead to the United States.
North Korea is known to have the capabilities to launch missiles on South Korea and Japan, but Japanese government spokesperson Shinzo Abe said Tokyo sees no imminent danger from North Korean missile strikes.
A spokesperson for the South Korean Defence Ministry said his government could not confirm the media reports but Seoul was closely monitoring developments out of North Korea.
The Foreign Ministry in Seoul also had no concrete evidence indicating a launch was being prepared but the government was checking the media reports, a spokesperson said.
Pyongyang alarmed the world in 1998 when it test-fired a Taepodong 1 missile that flew about 1 320km and crossed Japan before landing in the Pacific.
US intelligence agencies have said they believe that Pyongyang is working on an intercontinental version of the Taepodong 2.
Friday’s reports came as six-nation talks aimed at negotiating an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme are stalled as the United States and North Korea squabble over financial sanctions imposed by Washington. – Sapa-DPA