No sign of missile launch: USFK

By Kang Seung-woo

An official from the United States Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday that there were no signs of North Korea launching a missile any time soon.

“We are seeing nothing in North Korea that suggests that anything is going to threaten South Korea,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Pyongyang has threatened to fire medium-range “Musudan” missiles this month. These have a range of up to 4,000 kilometers, and are capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, where U.S. Air Force and Navy bases are located.

In addition, he also said any missiles launched would probably not be aimed at any targets.

“The missiles might be shot into the waters like back in 2009,” he said.

The North has threatened to attack the U.S. mainland as well as Guam and Hawaii with nuclear weapons ― bellicose rhetoric that the White House said last week Pyongyang could not back up.

“I want to be clear that North Korea has not demonstrated the capability to deploy a nuclear-armed missile,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters, Friday.

The North provided a sign Tuesday that it would conditionally return to the negotiating table, and the USFK official said the country appeared to be mulling an exit strategy.

“I think the North Korean leadership is trying to figure a way out from the heightened state of rhetoric we have seen over the past couple of weeks,” he said.

“So there was always a backdoor to it. What I would hope is that they are exploring the use of that backdoor to scale back their rhetoric.”