N.Korea's Ding-Dong 2,is apparently on a train chugging along to its launch pad and a test in expected soon.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ssile.html
North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile that could be used to target the United States, according to intelligence reports from the South and Japan.
By Richard Spencer in Beijing
Last Updated: 9:41AM GMT 03 Feb 2009
A large missile-shaped object, presumed to be one of North Korea's intercontinental Taepodong-2 prototypes, was spotted by satellite being taken by train towards the country's north-west coast.
That is the location of what is thought to be a newly built missile launch site.
In July 2006, the North set off a Taepodong-2 from its long-established site in the north-east of the country, but it fizzled out and fell into the Sea of Japan in a major embarrassment for the country's armed forces.
Later that year, the North performed an underground test on a nuclear weapon, which was also only partially successful but triggered a wave of outrage across the world, and intensified sanctions.
In the latest report, a container was spotted arriving at Tongchang, the new missile base on the west coast 25 miles from North Korea's border with China, according to Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper.
It said numerous truck movements had been seen at the site, and Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, quoted analysts saying the missile would take one to two months to prepare for launch.
The preparations for a test were confirmed by a South Korean intelligence official. The current Taepodong-2 development is believed to have a range of just over 4,000 miles, enough to hit Alaska and maybe Hawaii.
North Korea's official media has whipped up its invective against the South in recent weeks, and in particular against South Korea's right-wing president, Lee Myung-bak. On Friday, it said the two Koreas were on the "brink of war".
But the regime has been noticeably quiet about America, seemingly wishing to encourage Washington's current policy of engagement with Pyongyang.
Its new move, if confirmed, could be its way of ensuring the newly sworn in President Barack Obama does not relegate North Korea's place in his list of concerns. North Korea relies on a complex mixture of threats and promises to extract aid and deter attempts at regime change from the West.
Talks that have continued since 2003 between the United States, North Korea, and four of its neighbours over its nuclear programme are currently stalled over the question of how disarmament is to be verified.
The Taepodong range of missiles includes one that was test-fired over Japan in 1998, much to Tokyo's alarm. North Korea already has a Scud-type missile called the Nodong which it has produced in enough quantities to virtually obliterate the South.
It has yet to show it can develop the Taepodong-2 into a genuine threat to the United States, but with an intended range believed to be in the region of 4-6,000 miles, it would bring at least the west coast within reach.
A three-stage missile with a range of up to 10,000 miles is also said by analysts to be under development.
The major remaining question is whether Pyongyang has the technical ability to turn its stockpile of nuclear weapons, estimated to number between six-eight, into missile warheads.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 647653.ece
