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UNCLASSIFIEDNorth Korea Fires Short-Range Missile 29 May, Warns of Action
AFP 
05/29/2009North Korea fired another short-range missile on Friday and threatened fresh steps if worldpowers impose sanctions for its nuclear test, amid signs it may be readying a new long-rangelaunch.The United States said it was sending its North Korea envoy to the jittery region, where Chinesefishing boats were fleeing a sensitive part of the Yellow Sea in fear of potential naval clashes.The communist North, which has warned it could launch an attack on the South, vowed torespond to any fresh sanctions imposed by the United Nations."If the UN Security Council provokes us, our additional self-defense measures will beinevitable," the North's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by official media."The world will soon witness how our army and people stand up against oppression anddespotism by the UNSC and uphold their dignity and independence."Tensions have been running high since Kim Jong-Il's regime said it tested a nuclear bomb onMonday for the second time and renounced the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.North Korea test-fired another missile off its east coast Friday, the sixth this week, according toSouth Korea's Yonhap news agency.There was no immediate confirmation but the agency's reports of five launches earlier this weekwere later confirmed by Pyongyang.
In Washington, two US defense officials said that satellite photos suggest North Koreamay now
be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile.Vehicle movements at two missile sites resemble work done before North Korea fired a long-range rocket last month, the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.
 
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One of the sites is in the east of the country and the other is in the west, the officials added,without giving further details.With US and South Korean troops on high alert, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates was dueto consult his counterparts from South Korea and Japan on Saturday at a regional conference inSingapore.Stephen Bosworth, the US special envoy on North Korea, and Deputy Secretary of State JamesSteinberg will head Sunday to Tokyo and later visit China, South Korea and Russia, the StateDepartment said.The countries were part of six-nation talks that agreed in 2007 to provide aid and securityguarantees to North Korea in return for denuclearization.Pyongyang stormed out of the accord last month in protest after the UN Security Councilunanimously condemned its long-range missile launch.The Council has been discussing a potential resolution -- stronger than last month's statement --to condemn the North's nuclear test. But it was not yet clear if that would include new sanctions.Gates, en route to Singapore, accused the North of "very provocative, aggressive" actions. Buthe also tried to calm nerves, stressing the United States was not planning any military action.Gates said he was unaware of any unusual troop movements in the North, which has around1.1 million soldiers, compared with 680,000 South Korean and 28,500 US troops south of theborder.
"I don't think there is a need for us to reinforce our military presence in the South.Should the
North Koreans do something extremely provocative militarily, then we have theforces to deal with it," he added.The North may take further steps following its latest verbal statement, which aims to send a"strong warning" to the Security Council, said Professor Yang Moo-Jin at Seoul's University ofNorth Korean Studies.
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