North Korea is in the final stages of preparations to test a long-range ballistic missile that could launch within a week, a news report said yesterday.
The only remaining steps to go for the test would be setting up the launch pad and injecting solid fuel into a Taepodong-2 missile, said KBS, South Korea's largest television network, citing an unidentified high-level government official.
US reach
A Taepodong-2 missile is capable of reaching as far as the US mainland with a light payload.
The report didn't provide further details.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho and other officials said they didn't have any such information.
But another government official, who requested not to be identified, said the Seoul government con-veyed its concern to the North last month over a possible test.
Japanese and South Korean officials said last month the North had moved a missile to a launch site in a sign it was preparing a test launch. A senior South Korean intelligence official said it remained unclear whether the North was seeking to demonstrate its missile capability or was really preparing to fire a missile.
Warning
On Wednesday, US Ambassador Alexander Vershbow warned North Korea against firing a missile, saying Washington would take unspecified "appropriate measures in response."
Seoul's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon also said its ministry "was in discussions with related departments on possible measures" in case of a North Korean missile test.
The government's response to a missile launch would center on slowing the pace of economic cooperation with North Korea, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.
However, Seoul would also declare its opposition to military action against the North, the paper said, quoting an unnamed government official.
North Korea sent shock waves through the region when it test-fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan in 1998.
The North's missile program has been a major security concern in the region, on top of its pursuit of nuclear bombs. It has been under a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile tests since 1999. Still, it has since test-fired short-range missiles many times, including two in March.
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