U.S. expresses concerns over reports on N. Korea's missile firing

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday said North Korea's firing of even short-range missiles will not help stabilize the regional political situation.

"I think just as a general comment, with respect to the firing of these kinds of
missiles, these short-range missiles, we would advise against it," State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a daily news briefing. "It's not helpful
in any way managing tensions within the region, which are always at a constant
level."
South Korean defense officials have said North Korea fired two short-range
missiles in the Yellow Sea adjoining China Monday as part of routine military
training.
McCormack would not confirm the reports, but if true they would mark the first
launches since March, when a North Korean naval vessel fired three Styx missiles
in the Yellow Sea.
"We can't confirm it," he said.
The spokesman added that any firing of short-range missiles by North Korea does
not constitute a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution
imposing sanctions on the North's long-range missiles.
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution in 2006 demanding that the North
"suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program," and abandon
its missile program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."
The resolution was issued soon after North Korea test fired a long-range missile
in a break from its voluntary moratorium on missile testing imposed in 1998 to
defuse international criticism after parts of a ballistic missile fell into the
sea off Alaska.
Reports said in September that North Korea, at its new launch site under
construction on its west coast, tested the engine for an intercontinental missile
that could possibly reach the U.S. Pacific coast.
The spokesman would not speculate on the intent of North Korea's missile firing,
if any, at a sensitive time when multilateral talks on ending North Korea's
nuclear ambitions hit another snag over how to verify the nuclear list presented
by North Korea under a six-party deal.
"Again that gets into the psychology and the thinking of the North Korean
government," he said. "I can't offer any insight to that."
U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill last week made a three-day visit to
Pyongyang, but apparently failed to agree to a verification regime as North
Koreans would not accept U.S. demands for unfettered access to the North's
nuclear facilities.
Washington has yet to lift Pyongyang from a terrorism blacklist, citing a lack of
an agreement on the verification protocol, prompting the North to restart its
nuclear facilities disabled under a six-party deal.