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2nd LD: S.Korea's military tracking signs of possible DPRK ballistic missile launch

Xinhua, May 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Korea's military said on Monday that it was tracking signs of possible ballistic missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) after a Japanese broadcaster's report on it.

An official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told Xinhua on the phone that it was trailing the signs of the DPRK's ballistic missile launch and has made complete preparations for possible launches.

The comments came after Japan's state broadcaster NHK reported that Japan had put its military on alert for possible DPRK ballistic missile launch in order to shoot down any projectile heading for Japan.

Japan's military reportedly advanced Aegis-equipped destroyers in the country's western waters and deployed Patriot PAC-3 anti-ballistic missile batteries in Tokyo and other areas to intercept possible projectiles flying from the DPRK.

According to South Korea's military cited by Yonhap news agency, the DPRK forces have already deployed an unidentified number of Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles, mounted on mobile launchers, in the DPRK's east coastal region of Wonsan.

The DPRK test-launched a total of three Musudan missiles, two on April 28 and one on April 15 each, but all of the test-firings were believed to have failed as the missiles exploded in mid-air or crashed in waters several seconds after lift-off.

The Musudan missile, known to be capable of hitting part of the U.S. territory such as Guam and the outer reaches of Alaska, has been deployed by the DPRK since 2007. The April 15 launch was the DPRK's first known test-firing of the intermediate-range ballistic missile.

The missile is considered especially threatening as it is fired from a mobile launcher, making it hard to detect and track in times of military conflicts. It can also carry a nuclear warhead.

As all of the three test-firings ended as failure, the DPRK is expected to conduct another test-launch to prove its nuclear-tipped ballistic missile technology. Endit