By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

North Korea is showing signs that it will not give up its missile arsenal, one of its few cash cows, despite enormous pressure by the outside world.



The North was found to be building two underground bases for the early deployment of its new missiles with a range of 3,000-4,000 kilometers, according to sources on Tuesday.

Citing its routine practice not to comment on military intelligence, the Defense Ministry refused to confirm whether it was true the missile bases were being built in the two regions _ Yangdok in South Pyongan Province and Sangnam in North Hamgyong Province.

``Please understand we are unable to confirm such secret information in our position,’’ spokesperson Brig. Gen. Nam Dae-youn said. Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, reported North Korea’s deployment of new missiles.

The new-type intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM), which was developed last year and will likely be deployed earlier than the South Korean and United States military authorities originally expected, are said to be capable of reaching as far as Guam and Hawaii.

Among the North Korean missiles deployed so far, Rodong-1 has the longest strike range of 1,300 kilometers, covering most of the Japanese territory.

In 1998, the North test-fired a three-stage Taepodong-1 rocket that landed in the Pacific Ocean with a range of 1,600-2,200 kilometers. The Pentagon believes the North is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), or the 6,000 km-range Taepodong-2 which could reach Alaska, Hawaii and possibly California.

About a year ago, former Japanese foreign minister Taro Nakayama, citing a U.S. document, told visiting South Korean lawmakers that the last piece of a missile warhead test-fired by North Korea was found in the U.S. state of Alaska. The testimony was included in a March 2003 report to the National Assembly.

Experts say the IRBM developed last year is a different type of missile from Rodong or Taepodong, but poses evenly serious threats to the U.S., which has been pushing for the so-called missile defense system.

``The deployment of 4,000 km-range missiles would not be an immediate threat for ROK-U.S. combined posture,’’ Rep. Park Jin of the opposition Grand National Party told The Korea Times. ``From a long-term perspective, however, it will certainly be affecting the U.S. missile defense programs.’’

Last Friday, the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) in Seoul said the U.S. would deploy two additional missile defense batteries in South Korea this autumn as part of a $11-billion upgrade on the Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. 8th Army’s new 35th Air Defense Brigade, located at Fort Bliss, Texas, and equipped with Patriot Advanced Capability 2 and 3 systems, will be deployed to Korea, the CFC said in its news release.

Rep. Park, one of the rare North Korean experts in the Assembly, urged the Roh Moo-hyun administration to pay more attention to the non-nuclear conventional weapons while exerting efforts to resolve the nuclear impasse.

``Reaching near the U.S. territory, the 4,000-km IRBM could pose serious threats to the ROK-U.S. defense posture,’’ he said.

With the North insisting its right to have aggressive missile defense programs, the international community might have to address another thorny issue of the non-nuclear conventional weapons even after the resolution of the nuclear crisis.

Kim Yong-nam, deputy to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, said in a recent interview with Selig Harrison that they would ``never transfer nuclear technology to the Islamist terror group _ or to anyone else.’’ But he was quoted by the Washington-based Korean expert as saying: ``We’re entitled to sell missiles to earn foreign exchange.’’

Critics said the South Korean government should exert more endeavors to facilitate inter-Korean military talks to reduce tension and build peace on the peninsula through disarmament efforts.

Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun admitted that inter-Korean exchanges were relatively unsatisfactory in the military fields compared with economic, social and cultural areas. ``We will persuade the North this time to comply with our calls for progress in the military exchanges,’’ he said just before heading for Pyongyang, where the 14th inter-Korean ministerial talks kicked off Tuesday.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr