North Korea actively preparing for powerful rocket launch

By Gideon Swift | Published: May 31, 2009

North Korea is actively preparing for the launch of a powerful ballistic missile, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Saturday with reference to a source in the South Korean government.

According to information obtained by intelligence services of South Korea and the United States, a powerful device resembling a ballistic missile was brought from a military plant in the area of Pyongyang to the Musudan-ri range last week, the agency said adding that this information was provided by American military satellites.

According to Yonhap, North Korea appears to be preparing for a long-range missile test, an informed source said Saturday, defying the UN Security Council whose members are negotiating a resolution to punish it for its recent nuclear test. The source, asking not to be identified, said an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was recently spotted on a cargo train near Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

The missile has since been moved to an undisclosed location, according to the source. “It usually takes about two months to set up a launch pad, but the process could be done in as little as two weeks, which means the North could launch a long-range missile as early as in mid-June,” the source said, the agency reported. The remarks came shortly after a defence source said some activities were spotted at a North Korean munitions factory used to build long-range missiles.