North Korea Fires 5 Short-Range Missiles: Report

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea reportedly test-launched five short-range missiles – and may fire more – in what analysts said is an attempt to improve its bargaining position ahead of possible talks with the United States.

North Korea has recently reached out to the U.S. and South Korea following months of tension over its nuclear and missile tests earlier this year. Leader Kim Jong Il told visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last week that his government might return to stalled six-nation negotiations on its nuclear program depending on the outcome of direct talks it seeks with the United States.

Washington has said it is considering holding talks with North Korea as part of efforts to restart the six-party negotiations.

Yonhap, citing a South Korean official it did not identify, said the KN-02 surface-to-surface missiles were fired from mobile launch pads and had a range of up to 75 miles (120 kilometers). It said North Korea launched two missiles in the morning and three more in the afternoon.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday confirmed the missile launches, but declined to identify the number and types of missiles fired on Monday off North Korea's east coast – the first since July, when the North test-fired seven missiles.

South Korea also has detected evidence that North Korea is preparing to fire short-range missiles off its west coast and has announced a no-sail zone there, Yonhap said, citing an unidentified government official.

South Korea's Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Belfast on Monday that American efforts to resume the nuclear talks with North Korea will proceed despite the new tests.

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"Our goal remains the same," she told reporters after a meeting with Northern Irish business leaders. "Our consultations with our partners and our allies continues unabated. It is unaffected by the behavior of North Korea."

Clinton was to fly later to Moscow to meet with Russian leaders on a variety of issues, including nuclear reduction concerns.

South Korea's YTN television network carried a report similar to Yonhap's. It quoted an unidentified government source as saying North Korea had announced a no-sail zone in areas off the country's east and west coasts for Oct. 10-20 – an apparent indication the country could carry out more missile tests.

The reported launches appeared to be aimed at displaying North Korea's missile capability to bolster its negotiating hand ahead of talks with the U.S. and other countries to wrest more concessions, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, agreed and added that North Korea was unlikely to take more drastic steps such as its April long-range rocket test or May nuclear test.

Meanwhile, North Korea agreed to hold two sets of working-level talks with South Korea, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said Tuesday, a day after Seoul proposed the talks.

Officials from the two sides plan to meet Wednesday at a North Korean border city to discuss how to prevent Imjin River flooding from running through their heavily armed border, Lee said.

She also said Red Cross societies of the two sides plan to hold talks Friday to discuss reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Ties between the two Koreas soured after conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office early last year with a pledge to get tough with the North's government. Tensions further heightened after North Korea conducted its long-range rocket and nuclear tests.

The Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, which means that the two Koreas are still technically at war.

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Associated Press writers Jae-soon Chang in Seoul and Matthew Lee in Belfast contributed to this report.

Comments

[TParrish]

If the North Koreans really want to make their point they need a really impressive demonstration. I suggest firing every missile they have into the sea. That will be a demonstration that cannot be ignored.

[dogman44]

Not really understanding how them lobbing a bunch of short range
rockets into the ocean is going to bolster their bargaining position.

[StansDad]

congrats on the modified bottle rockets, they'll be a blast on china-dependance day celebrations!

[Subterfuge]

Obama to Kim Jong-Il: "Are you done yet?"

[hrholmes]

So if they put one of their 1st generation nukes on one of these missiles the range would be around what, a few hundred yards? lol We should use this as another oppourtunity to install one of our non functional missle defense shields! bwahahaha

[hidenout]

Or they could deliver them to rogue nations, or terrorist groups. But they'd never do that since the love democracy and freedom so much.

[MajorKong]

Or maybe they're, you know, actually afraid of us.

We spend half a trillion dollars a year to make other countries afraid of us and then we can't believe that they might actually be afraid of us.

[slowhand0728]

I really dont know how anyone can take negotiating with the North_Korean Government seriously, They are going to do what they want when they want, all we can do is try and buy them off and that has never worked in the past so why would they change?

[sizogee]

That's fine, but what would you do? North Korea poses too great a threat to Seoul for military action to even be on the table.

[MajorKong]

The Pentagon estimates 50,000 American casualties in a Korean conflict. South Korean civilian casualties in the millions.

We really don't want to go there.

[Ayrshirelass]

Peel me a grape!