US warns North Korea against ‘provocative’ missile test
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States sharply warned North Korea against testing a ballistic missile, saying it would take steps to protect itself as speculation mounts about an imminent launch.
“Together, our diplomacy and that of our allies has made clear to North Korea that a missile launch would be a provocative act that is not in their interests and will further isolate them from the world,” said US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
“We have a variety of national technical means that we could use to monitor the situation. We, of course, will take necessary preparatory steps to track any potential activities and to protect ourselves,” he told reporters.
North Korea on Friday accused a US reconnaissance plane of intruding over its territorial space to spy on strategic targets, amid jitters over the Stalinist country’s apparent preparations for a missile test.
South Korean and US officials have said that North Korea appears to be preparing to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.
On Friday, South Korean officials and analysts said that North Korea had not yet begun fueling a long-range missile on its northeast coast, the final step before a possible launch.
“It will take at least two days to fill the rocket with liquid fuel and if they finish it, we can say they are ready to start the countdown,” Baek Seung-Joo from the government-backed Korean Institute for Defence Analyses told AFP.
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