TMCnet News
U.S. says N. Korea conducted missile tests, not accidental firing+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, March 8_(Kyodo) _ The United States said Wednesday that North Korea fired two short-term missiles earlier in the day not accidentally but for testing them, and urged Pyongyang to abide by its agreed missile moratorium. The missile tests came a day after North Korea and the United States held a meeting in New York over the U.S. financial sanctions against the North's alleged money-laundering and other illicit activities -- an issue that has stalled the six-party nuclear talks. A senior U.S. State Department official said it "could be" that the tests were timed with the New York meeting, but noted that North Korea's decision-making process is "somewhat opaque to outsiders." "I will leave it to you to discern what their motivations may or may not have been," the official said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "Indications are that North Korea launched two short-term missiles. The regime has conducted similar tests in the past." "We have consistently pointed out that North Korea's missile program is a concern that poses a threat to the region and the larger international community," McClellan said in a statement. "We believe the six-party talks remain the way to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions and deal with the threat from its missile program and activities," he said. Separately at a regular press briefing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We would call upon North Korea to abide by the moratorium concerning missile tests." All the U.S. officials declined to comment on other details such as where and how the tests were carried out. North Korea maintains the moratorium for launching ballistic missiles it agreed with the United States after firing a long-range missile, part of which flew over Japan into the Pacific, in 1998. Pyongyang insists that it was a rocket for sending satellite into orbit. But North Korea has test-fired short-range missiles even since then. |