Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nuthatch]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/world/asia/09korea.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

October 9, 2008

North Korea Reportedly Tests Short-Range Missiles
By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea fired short-range missiles off the country�s western coast this week amid tensions raised by its moves to reassemble its nuclear weapons program, South Korean media reported on Wednesday.

North Korea, launched two missiles on Tuesday toward international waters between the North and China, South Korea�s Yonhap news agency reported, quoting an unnamed government source.

North Korea launched the missiles from a naval base in Chodo, an island about 60 miles southwest of Pyongyang, said Chosun Ilbo, a mass-circulation daily in Seoul, which also quoted an unnamed government source.

Chosun Ilbo said the number of rockets fired was unknownbut that they were either KN-01 land-to-sea missiles or Styx ship-to-ship missiles.

North Korea has deployed more missiles around the island and declared it a no-sail zone, meaning that it may launch more missiles to mark the Oct. 10 anniversary of the ruling Workers Party of Korea, the newspaper quoted the government source as saying.

But another mass-circulation newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, said the two missiles fired on Tuesday were air-to-ship missiles launched from an IL-28 North Korean bomber.

�We cannot confirm these reports because it�s an intelligence matter,� said a spokesman at the South Korean military�s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

Attention is focused on whether North Korea�s leader, Kim Jong-il, reportedly ill after suffering a stroke, will attend the party anniversary on Friday. Over the weekend, the North�s state-run media reported that Mr. Kim watched a soccer match in his first public appearance since mid-August, but they did not carry his photo or video footage.

South Korea usually dismisses short-range missile tests by the North as part of routine military exercise. But analysts say that the North tests its missiles when it seeks to bolster its bargaining power by escalating tensions.

In March, North Korea test-fired a barrage of short-range missiles off its western coast, while threatening to slow down the disablement of its nuclear weapons facilities in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang. North Korea stopped disabling the Yongbyon complex in August, angry that the United States did not remove it from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Last month, it began reassembling the facilities, which the North had used to produce weapons-grade plutonium. Christopher R. Hill, the senior American envoy for North Korea, visited Pyongyang last week to try to find a way to salvage the nuclear disarmament deal.

North Korea conducted its only known nuclear test in October 2006. It is unknown whether the North has the technology to arm its missiles with nuclear warheads.

North Korea has a large arsenal of missiles, including ballistic weapons that can hit all of South Korea and Japan. Missile experts say that the North is also developing a long-range Taepodong missile series capable, when fully developed, of reaching parts of North America.

[cdninkorea]

Does this kind of thing affect the value of currencies? Honestly, I don't see dying as a realistic possibility right now, but the exchange rate is very real.

[nuthatch]

well, it is just another thing to consider, another message about whether to stay or go; is the money worth it?