North Korea nearing 'dangerous line' with threats, US says
Seoul - North Korea is "skating very close to a dangerous line "with its war rhetoric, US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel said Wednesday, as South Korea raised its alert level to "vital threat" amid signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a missile tes
The US-South Korean Combined Forces Command stepped up monitoring and intelligence staff, Yonhap News Agency reported, following intelligence reports that North Korea had moved two medium-range Musudan missiles to its east coast on mobile launchers.
The Musudan rockets are thought to be untested, but have an estimated range of 4,000 kilometres, meaning they could reach anywhere on the peninsula, Japan and the US military base on the Pacific island of Guam.
Washington and Seoul have said that the isolated rogue state could fire the missile at any time. An official quoted by Yonhap said they could be launched to mark the April 15 birthday of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.
"It is I believe the intent and hope of all of our allies ... that that rhetoric be ratcheted down, those actions be neutralized," Hagel told reporters in Washington.
"In the event that does not occur, as we have said many times, our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that North Korea may take or any action that they may instigate," the defence chief said.
As many as five mobile launchers have been spotted in the North's eastern province of South Hamkyung, raising the possibility of test-firing other smaller rockets as well, Yonhap reported, citing satellite imagery.//DPA
