5TH LD: N. Korea may have launched missile into Sea of Japan

Japan Policy & Politics, May 2, 2005

TOKYO, May 1 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING 5TH GRAF ON N. KOREA MEDIA, RECASTING HEADLINE)

North Korea may have launched a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday morning according to information given to Japan's Defense Agency by the U.S. military, Japanese government sources said.

The intelligence, believed to be based on a U.S. early warning satellite and other data, says a missile was launched from North Korea's east coast shortly after 8 a.m. and that it landed in the Sea of Japan.

The information temporarily sent jitters through the Japanese government as officials scrambled to verify the report. But a senior Defense Agency official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, ''There is nothing more we can do to confirm it.''

Meanwhile, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said South Korean intelligence officials, citing a U.S. military source, confirmed the missile was fired north of Hamhung in North Korea. Seoul's Defense Ministry, however, has yet to confirm the reports, Yonhap said.

As of 9 p.m. Japan time Sunday, none of the major media outlets in North Korea have touched on the reported missile launch and the state-run Korean Central News Agency wrapped up its news service for the day. In the past, Pyongyang has reported on its mid- and long-range missile launches but never on short-range missiles.

The Japanese government sources said they believe that even if a missile were launched, it would be of extremely short range, possibly an improved land-to-ship Silkworm missile with a 100-200 kilometer range, or a ballistic missile smaller in size than the short-range Scud missile.

The agency is investigating the case and has relayed the information to the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry and other government agencies concerned, the sources said.

The latest developments come amid pressure from the United States and Japan on North Korea to return to stalled negotiations on its nuclear ambitions.

Pyongyang announced in February that it possesses nuclear arms and is indefinitely pulling out of the six-party nuclear talks, citing Washington's ''hostile'' policy.

Cabinet ministers concerned were informed by the Cabinet Secretariat around 8:30 a.m. that a missile had been launched at 8:10 a.m., that it had landed in the Sea of Japan at 8:15 a.m., and that all Cabinet ministers may be asked to assemble in the case of an emergency, the sources said.

In February, Japan's Cabinet approved a bill to revise the Self-Defense Forces Law to enable the Defense Agency chief to order missile interceptions without waiting for approval from the Cabinet and Security Council of Japan.

Information that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile caused temporary confusion at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and some other government agencies concerned, the sources said.

In June last year, the agency also received information from the U.S. Department of Defense of a possible missile launch by North Korea toward the Sea of Japan, but the Japanese government was unable to confirm any signs of a missile having actually been launched.

In May 1993, North Korea test-fired the Rodong-1 missile, with an estimated shooting range of 1,000 km, toward the Sea of Japan at a time when negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington were deadlocked over the North's nuclear ambitions.

In 1998, North Korea lobbed a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean, claiming it was a satellite launch. This prompted Japan to start joint technical research with the United States for a missile defense system.

A media report in late April quoted a U.S. official as saying North Korea could be preparing for a nuclear weapons test in the near future.