N. Korea missile threat 'provocative'

The United States and Japan warned North Korea yesterday against a missile launch that experts say could reach as far as Alaska and threatened harsh action if the test flight goes ahead.

The warning coincided with the assessment by some officials that Pyongyang may have finished fueling for the launch of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a missile launch by North Korea would be viewed as a very serious matter and "provocative act" that would further isolate Pyongyang.

"We will obviously consult on next steps but I can assure everyone that it would be taken with utmost seriousness," said Ms Rice at a news conference.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has twice met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il since taking office in 2001, said Tokyo, Washington and Seoul were all urging Pyongyang to act rationally and with restraint.

"Even now, we hope that they will not do this," Mr Koizumi told a news conference. "But if they ignore our views and launch a missile, then the Japanese government, consulting with the United States, would have to respond harshly."

Mr Koizumi declined to specify what steps Japan would take. The United States is consulting fellow members of the U.N. Security Council, said Washington's ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton.

Mr Bolton said Washington did not know what North Korea's intentions were.

The United States has found itself blocked by veto-wielding council members China and Russia in past attempts to raise North Korea's nuclear-weapons programme in the Security Council.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the United States had a limited missile-defense system. Asked if the US military would try to shoot down a North Korean missile, he would not discuss details about the capabilities or potential use of the system.

"I will not get into or discuss any specific alert status or capabilities," Mr Whitman told reporters.

South Korean broadcaster YTN cited officials in Seoul as saying a launch of the North's Taepodong-2 missile was imminent.

However, speculation that the missile would be fired over the weekend came to nothing, and forecasts of cloud and rain over North Korea until Wednesday could delay it even further.

Tension over North Korea added to downward pressure on the Japanese yen, Korean won and Taiwan dollar yesterday, although currency markets were more focused on rising US interest rates.

North Korea shocked the world in 1998 when it fired a missile, part of which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. Pyongyang said it had launched a satellite. Since 1999, it has adhered to a moratorium on ballistic missile launches.

US officials said Washington had warned Pyongyang against a missile launch through a message passed to North Korean diplomats at the United Nations, but it had had no response.

Australia, one of the few Western countries with diplomatic ties to North Korea, said it had summoned Pyongyang's ambassador in Canberra to express its concerns.