Is North Korea About to Test a Missile?

It could be nothing, then again ….

TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range Taepodong ballistic missile that could have the capacity to reach all of the United States, Japanese national broadcaster NHK reported on Friday.

Quoting unidentified South Korean government officials, NHK said satellite pictures showed there have been signs since early this month around a launch site in northeastern North Korea that pointed to a possible firing in the near future.

South Korea’s defense ministry said it could not confirm the report. Japanese officials have not commented.

The missile appeared to be the Taepodong-2, which has the longest range in North Korea’s arsenal, and if it is a modified version it may have a range of 15,000 km (9,300 miles), which would cover all of the United States, NHK said.

Quoting Japanese government sources, Japan’s Kyodo news agency also said a launch could be imminent.

I’d struggled with my Internet connection today as I tried to find a few minutes to blog the NYT story today, but this adds some context.