Report: N. Korea Has Long-Range Missile

By SOO-JEONG LEE
Associated Press Writer

September 8, 2003, 10:09 AM EDT


SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea dismissed reports the United States was
softening its stand on the communist nation's weapons program, saying it
retains the option to "increase its nuclear deterrent force."

The angry rhetoric followed a report Monday in a South Korean newspaper that
North Korea has developed a long-range missile capable of targeting all of
Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam.

The developments came on the eve of North Korea's 55th anniversary, which is
expected to be celebrated with a military parade amid speculation in Washington
that North Korea might conduct a nuclear test.

During six-nation talks last month in Beijing, North Korean delegate Kim Yong
Il said his country could test a nuclear weapon and even prove that it has the
means to deliver such weapons, U.S. officials said.

On Monday, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said some U.S. officials
were giving the impression that Washington is preparing for a significant
change in its approach to North Korea.

"This is, however, nothing but a sheer lie the U.S. faked up to flee from its
responsibility for bringing to rupture the hard-won six-way talks, a result of
the DPRK's magnanimity and good faith," the unidentified spokesman told KCNA,
the North's official news agency.

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official
name.

"No one can doubt about the DPRK's option to increase its nuclear deterrent
force as a self-defensive means, now that it has become clear that the U.S.
does not have any willingness to make a switchover in its hostile policy toward
the DPRK," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, a senior U.S. State Department official outlined a conciliatory
approach toward North Korea, saying the communist country "would not have to do
everything" before getting something in return. The official briefed reporters
on the condition that he not be identified.

Previously, the administration insisted that North Korea would have to
dismantle its nuclear programs in a verifiable, irreversible way before the
United States would be willing to offer concessions.

North Korea wants Washington first to sign a nonaggression treaty, open
diplomatic ties and provide economic aid.

The nuclear standoff flared in October when U.S. officials said North Korea
admitted running a secret nuclear program in violation of international
agreements.

A leading South Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, quoted an unidentified
government official as saying that North Korea has developed a ballistic
missile with a range of 1,850 miles to 2,470 miles, but has not yet deployed
it.

The missile's range would make it more powerful than the 1,540-mile Taepodong-1
missile, which can target all but the most far-flung of Japan's islands.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan warned that aggravating actions
by North Korea would affect further talks on its suspected development of
nuclear weapons.

Yoon, who met President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell last week,
said Washington expressed concerns that North Korea might take threatening
actions on Tuesday.

The "secretary of state believes that taking measures that worsen the situation
are not only non-beneficial to North Korea, but also will not help to resolve
the (nuclear) issue peacefully," Yoon told reporters. "I also hope that such an
incident does not take place."

Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the U.N. nuclear agency, said the North's nuclear
ambitions will remain unclear until the regime allows U.N. inspectors to
return.

The International Atomic Energy Agency pulled its experts out of North Korea at
Pyongyang's request in December.