SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea could have another long-range missile at a launch site but does not appear close to firing it, South Korea's defense minister told reporters Friday. Also, South Korea said it will delay food and fertilizer shipments to the North, and had turned down a proposal by the North to hold military talks this week.
Intelligence shows the North may have moved two long-range Taepodong-2 missiles to the launch site before it test-fired what was believed to be a Taepodong and six other, shorter-range missiles on Wednesday, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told a small group of reporters, the Yonhap news agency said.
The second Taepodong may still be at the site, but Yoon said that current intelligence showed no sign it was near the launch pad itself, Yonhap said.
Meanwhile, a U.S. envoy said after meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing that the United States and China had agreed to work together to restore calm in the region.
Japan helped increase the pressure on the impoverished communist state by announcing it would not provide food aid and was considering restricting agricultural and fisheries trade to the North, which is dependent on international food shipments.
Yoon was quoted by Yonhap as saying there apparently was a technical problem with the North's Taepodongs and that further launches would likely be delayed until the glitch is resolved.
He also said that a North Korean boat that observed the missile launches had left the area — further suggestion that more immminent launches are unlikely.
The Taepodong is designed to be capable of reaching as far the United States, according to U.S. officials. But on Wednesday, what appeared to be a Taepodong broke up less than a minute after takeoff and fell into the sea.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, dispatched to the region in the wake of Wednesday's missile barrage, said China obviously opposed the launches. He said senior Chinese diplomats had told him that Beijing had contacted Pyongyang after the launches, though they did not provide details on what was said.
"They were very clear in their views of the North Korean missile launches, very clear that they have no interest in seeing this happen and do not regard this in anyway positively," Hill said before leaving Beijing for South Korea.
Hill said that he and the Chinese agreed that the two governments must work "to deal with the situation," curb further North Korean provocations and persuade Pyongyang to return to regional negotiations on its nuclear program.
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