`NK may fire long-range missile'

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea has almost completed extension work at a long-range missile launching pad near its border with China, according to military sources Wednesday.

South Korean military authorities are focusing on the possibility that the North could launch a long-range missile or rocket around Oct. 10 when it will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of its ruling Workers’ Party.

Pyongyang began to build the extension of the 50-meter-tall gantry in 2013 and has made it higher by 17 meters, sources said apparently on the basis of satellite imagery.

The new 67-meter-tall gantry has been spotted at the Dongchang-ri site, North Pyeongan Province, which the repressive state calls the Sohae Satellite Launching Station. Sohae means West Sea in Korean.

“We believe that North Korea could use the extended gantry to fire a long-range rocket bigger than the Unha-3,” a source said, asking not to be named. “We assess that a firing could occur around anniversary day.”

The Unha-3, which allegedly put a satellite into orbit in December 2012, is a three-stage vehicle some 30 meters long, believed to be able to travel more than 10,000 kilometers, a distance far enough to hit the Western United States.

The North already appears to have been preparing for a large-scale parade by massing various missiles as well as armored vehicles in an apparent effort to show off the achievements of its young leader Kim Jong-un.

Another source said there seems to be credible intelligence that Kim has ordered the launch of a satellite to mark the anniversary of the Workers’ Party.

But officials added that as well as the launching pad, other infrastructure facilities are also necessary to launch long-range missiles, noting that the completion of the construction does not necessarily mean a test is imminent.

The reclusive state is banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology.

But Pyongyang is insisting that its position to continuously launch “peaceful satellites” when it is necessary has been unchanged.

Meanwhile, the North has completed military facilities on a border island in the West Sea and deployed 122-millimeter multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), officials added.

South Korean authorities have been paying attention to the North, which has built several bunker-shaped buildings on the uninhabited Gal Island since March. The island is located just 4.5 kilometers away from the South’s Yeonpyeong Island

The Ministry of National Defense spokesman Kim Min-seok said in May that the facilities pose a severe threat to defense operations of the South Korean military, considering their location and the distance between Yeonpyeong Island and the Northern Limit Line (NLL).

The NLL is the de-facto inter-Korean western sea border.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye