Posted by
disguedne on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 2:24:57 PM
A new North Korean missile launch site under construction is
designed to fire rockets even more advanced than those already capable
of reaching the western U.S., South Korea said Tuesday.
South
Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told parliament that construction
on the new site on North Korea's west coast began eight years ago and
is about 80 percent complete.
The site in the village
of Dongchang-ni appears to be designed to launch "a bigger-sized
missile or satellite projectile" than rockets deployed from the North's
east coast facility.
North Korea's clandestine
missile program has been a key regional concern, along with its nuclear
weapons program.
The country has some 200 "Nodong"
missiles with a range of about 800 miles - far enough to reach Japan -
and more than 600 Scud-type, short-range missiles that could reach
South Korea.
In 2006, the North launched a long-range
missile, the Taepodong-2 - considered the country's most advanced
rocket - from its east coast site in Musudan-ni. The missile has a
range of more than 4,160 miles, putting the western U.S. into striking
range, according to the South Korean
government.
Experts say the missile has a small
payload and is unlikely to be accurate and the 2006 test was considered
a failure: The rocket plunged into the ocean shortly after
liftoff.
Later that year, the communist nation
conducted an underground nuclear test in 2006. North Korea is believed
to have enough plutonium to produce about half a dozen bombs but
experts say it has not acquired the technology needed to mount a
nuclear weapon on a missile.
Earlier this year, North
Korea tested the engine of a long-range missile at the new, western
missile site, U.S. and South Korean officials said. That missile is not
believed to bear longer-range capability.
But the
engine test - considered as a key step toward a development of a new
missile - could confirm that the North actively is working on
developing its long-range missile program.
The test
is a critical facility for measuring vibration from the engines and
adjusting guidance systems to account for it, which can help make
missiles more accurate.