NK rocket launch imminent

The multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) Chunmoo fires a rocket in this photo released by the Korean Army, Friday. The Army has deployed military vehicles to its frontline units since last year to better counter growing North Korean artillery threats. / Yonhap

North reportedly starts fueling

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea appears to have started fueling up a long-range rocket and is expected to finish the preparation of the launch in a few days, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported Friday.

It quoted an unidentified U.S. defense official as saying, “The preparation of the launch will be completed in a few days, at the earliest.”

Korea’s defense ministry declined to confirm the report. The Ministry of National Defense said only that the North is believed to have made a “considerable progress” in its preparation to launch a rocket.

Pyongyang on Tuesday notified the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of its intention to launch what it claims an Earth observation satellite called “Kwangmyongsong” between Feb. 8 and 25.

Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters, “As the timing of the launch notified by the North approaching, South Korea is keenly monitoring and tracing the North’s movement, bearing in mind the possibility that its preparation is making considerable progress.”

He refused to elaborate on the details further about the movement at the North’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, from which the communist state is believed to launch the rocket.

The North is suspected of using the launch of a satellite as a cover for the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 10,000 kilometers, given that the technologies for both are almost identical.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo convened an emergency meeting with key military officials at the Ministry of National Defense, also on Friday, to discuss countermeasures against the North’s planned rocket launch.

During the meeting, he issued an order for the South Korean military to “actively” respond to the Stalinist state’s long-range rocket launch.

“Now that North Korea has announced its plan to launch a long-range missile following its recent nuclear test, our military should maintain exceptional mental and physical combat readiness,” the minister said.

For its part, the South Korean Army issued a rare press release, saying that it conducted a live-fire exercise of its advanced multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) that is capable of striking a point of origin of a North Korean attack.

“The training of the Chunmoo MLRS took place Wednesday,” the Army said.

It was the first time that the training of the MLRS was released to the media. The military vehicles have been deployed in some of the Army’s frontline units in August to bolster the nation’s artillery counterstrike capabilities.

The rare release is apparently intended to send a warning message to the North that is preparing for another provocative action, just weeks after its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.

The domestically developed Chunmoo has a range of up to 80 kilometers ― double the range of the “Guryong” rocket system that has been deployed since the 1980s and replaced by the Chunmoo.

The Chunmoo can fire both 130 millimeter-caliber and 230 millimeter-caliber rockets.

As part of efforts by allies, working-level officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a video conference on the same day, during which the three sides shared military intelligence regarding North Korean missiles, the ministry said.

The three countries signed a trilateral information sharing pack at the end of 2014.

A day earlier, the ministry said that the military has strengthened its air defense posture to intercept the North Korean missile or its debris that could fall on the South Korean territory.

Spokesman Moon said the military has put its Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-2 surface-to-air missiles into combat mode.