NORTH KOREA TEST-FIRES MISSILE

Asia-Pacific News

North Korea test-fires short-range missile: reports (Roundup)

Jun 19, 2007, 14:59 GMT

Seoul/Tokyo - North Korea on Tuesday test-fired a missile for the third time in four weeks, according to regional media reports.

Japanese broadcaster NHK citing government sources said the test appeared to involve a short-range missile fired over the Sea of Japan. News agency Kyodo however said the missile trajectory was unknown but the test was believed to form part of new North Korean military manoeuvres.

South Korean news agency Yonhap citing domestic intelligence sources also surmised that the test was part of exercises conducted by Pyongyang.

The South Korean Ministry of Defence was unable however to confirm the reports.

South Korean military officials said Pyongyang had on July 7 test- fired two short-range missiles over the Yellow Sea to the west of the Korean peninsula. At least one missile was also fired over the Sea of Japan on May 25.

The White House had described the tests as 'not constructive.'

The reports come amid signs of clear progress being made in the international dispute over North Korea's nuclear programme after a long period of stagnation.

Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had on Saturday been invited for talks on the dismantling of the communist state's nuclear apparatus. The invitation represented the first concrete step taken by Pyongyang towards the shutdown of its atomic programme.

Christopher Hill, chief US negotiator in the nuclear talks process, on Tuesday called on North Korea to accelerate the dismantling process.

'We really have to pick up the pace, get back to the timelines and get through this very crucial phase of disablement,' said Hill in Seoul.

Pyongyang agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor as part of an agreement reached reached in February during the six-nation talks process. Implementation of the agreement has however been held up by a number of points, chief among them the issue of North Korean funds frozen by the US in a Macau bank.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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