ROK sends two destroyers to monitor activityThe Democratic People's Republic of Korea has loaded two mid-range missiles on mobilelaunchers near its east coast, media said on Friday, fuelling fears of an imminent launch thatwould escalate tensions.
Seoul-based Yonhap news agency, citing a top government official from the Republic of Korea,said two intermediate Musudan missiles had been transported by train earlier in the week and"loaded on vehicles equipped with launch pads".
The ROK Defense Ministry, which on Thursday had confirmed the movement of one missile with"considerable range", declined to comment on the new report.
But an ROK navy official toldYonhap that two ROK Aegisdestroyers with advance radarsystems had been deployed - oneoff the east coast and one off thewest coast - to track any missilelaunch.
"If the North fires off a missile, wewill trace its trajectory," the officialsaid.
Pyongyang, incensed at fresh UNsanctions and ROK-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear warin recent weeks.
White House spokean Jay Carney said on Thursday the barrage of rhetoric fitted a"regrettable but familiar" pattern of
DPRK behavior.
"We're taking all the necessary precautions," Carney said, citing "prudent measures" torespond to the possible missile threat.
The Musudan has never been tested but is believed to have a range of around 3,000 km,which could theoretically be pushed to 4,000 km with a light payload.
That would cover any tar-get in the ROK and Japan, and possibly even reach US military baseslocated on Guam.
The senior official told Yonhap that the mobile launchers had since been hidden in specialunderground facilities.
The Pentagon has said it will send missile-interceptor batteries to protect its bases on Guam, aUS territory some 3,380 km southeast of the DPRK and home to 6,000 US soldiers.
Most experts think Pyongyang is not yet capable of mounting a nuclear device on a ballisticmissile that could strike the US.
However, the DPRK has said it cannot assure the safety of embassies in Pyongyang after April10, and has urged Britain, Russia and other nations to evacuate diplomatic staff.
On Thursday, the DPRK army said it had received final approval for military action, possiblyinvolving nuclear weapons, against the threat posed by US B-52 and B-2 stealth bombersparticipating in joint military drills with the ROK.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Pyongyang must rein in its threats. "Nuclear threat is not a game, it is very serious," Ban said.
"I am concerned that any misjudgment, any miscalculations ... will have very seriousimplications," he said.
