MOSCOW/UN – Russia has information on North Korean plans to launch a ballistic missile but does not know when it will take place, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian military source as saying yesterday.
“We have certain information about the type and characteristics of the missile,” said the source. “However, we do not have accurate data on the timing of its launch.
World powers agreed to expand sanctions to punish North Korea for its recent nuclear test and weapons programme, as Russia said it expected the North to launch another missile test.
North Korea has angered many in the international community with missile launches, threats to attack South Korea and a May 25th nuclear test.
US and South Korean forces have raised a military alert on the peninsula to one of its highest levels since the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korean defence minister Lee Sang-hee said in an address to troops that North Korea’s military grandstanding was linked to leader Kim Jong-il’s succession plans in the “inhumane” state, an aide said. South Korean legislators said they had been briefed by the South’s intelligence services and told that the North’s leaders had started the groundwork that would allow Kim’s youngest son, Swiss-educated Jong-un, to assume power.
Analysts say the show of military strength might help Kim to divert attention from a faltering economy that has grown worse under his rule and boost support after a suspected stroke.
The North’s economy could take another hit as the US and Japan have pushed for strong sanctions to punish North Korea for its nuclear test. China and Russia, however, have been cautious about provoking Pyongyang by imposing more embargoes.
At the UN, the five permanent Security Council members, plus Japan and South Korea, agreed on a draft resolution to be discussed tomorrow, a diplomat said.
The US and Japan have pushed for strong sanctions to punish North Korea for its nuclear test in May.
Chinese envoy Liu Zhenmin made clear to reporters that Beijing, the nearest North Korea has to a major ally, was satisfied with the draft. “I hope countries will endorse the text,” he said.
Russia said the draft was “adequate and balanced”, but that Moscow was backing sanctions “with a heavy heart”.
With Russia and China on board, western countries hope for a unanimous vote to send a signal of international unity.
Council members Vietnam and Libya, however, are seen as potential hurdles to a unanimous vote,
South Korea’s defence minister linked the North’s threats and flurry of military activity to Kim Jong-il paving the way for his son to succeed him.
“Kim Jong-il is bloodshot in the eyes trying to build a succession plan to pass on power by creating tension . . . while ignoring the desperate plight of his starving people and the impoverished state of the economy,” he said in an address to troops, according to a military aide. “The North Korean regime is an unethical, irresponsible and inhumane group which puts its own survival ahead of the lives and happiness of the people.”
South Korea’s leaders have been told that the North’s economy could take another hit from further UN sanctions, although the reclusive nation is already largely isolated from the world economy.
North Korea appeared to be ready to ratchet up tensions by firing a long-range missile that could reach US territory and mid-range missiles capable of striking anywhere in the South and most of Japan, officials said.
The North’s state media said the state would press on with boosting its nuclear deterrence to counter what it saw as hostile moves by a nuclear-armed United States.
US special envoy on North Korea Stephen Bosworth said in New York that the US would do what was necessary for the security of its allies but had no plans to invade the North or overthrow its government by force.
In an indication of growing concern for possible aggression by the North, South Korea has doubled the deployment of naval destroyers and patrol vessels in disputed waters off the peninsula’s west coast, a report in the South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo said yesterday.
North Korean vessels last week intruded into the South’s territorial waters, retreating after warning manoeuvres by the South Korean navy. The area off the west coast of the peninsula has been the site of two deadly naval battles between the rival states over the past 10 years. – (Reuters)