N. Korea developing long range missile thrusters at new launch site: sources

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be testing a new thruster for its long-range missiles which, if developed, will have an expected range of nearly 7,000 kilometers, sources here said Tuesday.

The communist nation's Taepodong missile, currently with an estimated range of
6,000 kilometers, is already capable of hitting Alaska. An additional 1,000
kilometers could enable the long-range missile to reach most of the western coast
of the U.S.

Adding more urgency to what could potentially become a major dispute between
North Korea and the United States is the fact that the missile thruster is
apparently being developed at a new launch site located on the North's western
coast. That means a missile launched from there would be capable of flying over
the Atlantic Ocean, reducing the possibility of it being intercepted by the U.S.
missile defense system deployed in the Pacific.

North Korea recently set off a tied-down missile thruster at its new launch site
in Dongchang-ri, North Pyongyang Province, in what appeared to be a test of the
new thruster's performance, according to sources.

"We believe they tested a rocket thruster at the new site in May or
June," a source said, adding analysis of satellite images had suggested the
thruster could be for a long-range missile.

Officials at the Defense Ministry refused to confirm or deny the report, but said
military intelligence has closely followed all activities at the new missile
launch site.

North Korea adopted a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile tests in
1999, but test-fired a Taepodong-2 missile in July 2006, along with six other
short and medium-range missiles.

Pyongyang has also begun rehabilitating its nuclear facilities, reversing its
yearlong work under a six-nation accord to disable them.

bdk@yna.co.kr

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