http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090402/twl-nkorea-reportedly-starts-fuelling-ro-4bdc673.html?printer=1
NKorea reportedly starts fuelling rocket
Thursday, April 2 04:23 am
Print Story
North Korea has begun fuelling a rocket in preparation for an imminent launch, a media report said, as Washington and its allies pondered their response to what they see as a provocative missile test. Skip related content
Related photos / videos A television grab from a North Korean media channel shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il Enlarge photo A television grab from a North Korean media channel shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il Enlarge photo Tourists look at replicas of North and South Korean missiles at the Korea War Memorial in More Enlarge photo Graphic with satellite image showing details at the Musudan-ri missile launch site in More Enlarge photo Interactive graphic on the North Korean missile programme .
The fuelling signals that Pyongyang could be in the final stages of a launch as early as this weekend, CNN quoted a senior US military official as saying Wednesday.
The communist state has announced it will send up a communications satellite between April 4-8 as part of a peaceful space programme.
The United States and its Asian allies say this is a pretext to test a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile, which could in theory reach Alaska or Hawaii.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, which operates a situation room round the clock to monitor the launch, said it could not comment on the CNN report.
A senior defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP in Washington Wednesday afternoon there was no clear sign fuelling had begun.
Recent satellite photos appear to confirm the North has indeed mounted a satellite atop the missile and not a dummy warhead, US experts say.
South Korea, Japan and the United States say it doesn't matter what is on top of the rocket -- any launch would breach UN resolutions.
"Whether it is a satellite or a missile, the technology is the same," Seoul's Defence Minister Lee Sang-Hee told a parliamentary hearing Wednesday.
"Even if it is a satellite, the technology behind it can be converted for use on a missile. "That is the view shared by South Korea and the United States."
Lee and his US counterpart Robert Gates held phone talks Thursday and agreed to respond "firmly" to any launch, the defence ministry told AFP, adding that a variety of responses was discussed.
Chosun Ilbo newspaper and other media said Seoul would announce its full participation in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative after the launch.
There was no official confirmation of plans to join the initiative, which aims to halt ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction and related materials.
Seoul currently is only an observer in PSI and has so far hesitated to play a full role for fear of further souring ties with Pyongyang.
Chosun also reported that the North has moved its most advanced jet fighters to the northeast region where the Musudan-ri launch site is located. On Wednesday it threatened to shoot down US spy planes monitoring the site.
In London, Japan said it has the backing of several G20 partners including South Korea and Britain to refer the issue to the UN Security Council.
"The launch will clearly constitute a violation of the Security Council resolutions, so it needs to be discussed in the appropriate manner in the council," said deputy cabinet secretary Osamu Saka****a late Wednesday.
North Korea has said that even a UN discussion of its launch would trigger the breakdown of international nuclear disarmament talks.
A UN resolution passed after North Korea's 2006 missile and nuclear tests bars it from engaging in missile-related activities.
However, the North signed on to international space treaties before its launch. Analysts believe China and Russia would block any new sanctions move on the grounds that previous resolutions do not cover satellite launches.
