North Korea Moves Second Missile To East

By Mark Stone, on the South Korea border

North Korea has now moved two missiles to its east coast, loading them on mobile launchers, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The agency cited a top government official.

"It has been confirmed that North Korea, early this week, transported two Musudan mid-range missiles by train to the east coast and loaded them on vehicles equipped with launch pads," Yonhap quoted the official as saying.

Seoul said earlier it had been seeking urgent information on the first Korean missile that had been moved to the east coast.

Intelligence officials from Washington, Tokyo and Seoul are monitoring the movement of the weapon.

The Musudan missile is a mid-range weapon, meaning it is capable of reaching South Korea and Japan and perhaps also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

"The range is between 3,000 to 4,000km. There are major US military forces in Guam and a fixed number of troops to deal with the Korean peninsula, so I think these facts can reduce the possible danger there," Kim Min-seok, South Korea's Defence Ministry spokesman, said.

Speaking to Sky News, a security advisor to the South Korean government said there is no doubt that Pyongyang's capability is concerning.

"The technological level of North Korean weapons has become much improved and better - especially their missile capability and their long-range artilleries," Kim Byungki said.

"It is more uncertain, it is less predictable, there are more ways for them to destabilise us and there are more ways for us to respond ... so it is more complex."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said daily reports from Pyongyang were "really alarming and troubling" and urged North Korea to ease tensions.

"Nuclear threat is not a game, it is very serious," he said, adding that any misjudgement or miscalculation could have "very serious implications".

North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un has escalated his rhetoric

America says it is taking "all necessary precautions" to respond to the daily threats from the North Korean leadership.

President Barack Obama's spokesman insisted the US government was taking the threat extremely seriously.

"What we're seeing now is a familiar pattern of behaviour," Jay Carney said.

"Regrettable but familiar."

The Musudan, which is manoeuvrable on the back of a specially designed mobile launch pad, is untested but has a potential range of about 1,500-2,500 miles.

Its accuracy is unknown and most experts believe the North Koreans lack the technological ability to mount a nuclear warhead into its tip.

Musudan missiles, pictured here in 2010, are untested

Nevertheless, it can carry a significant load of conventional explosives which could cause considerable damage.

The Musudan does not have anywhere near the ability to reach the US mainland.

It is not clear whether military commanders in North Korea have been given orders to fire the weapon in anger or as a test.

However, given the level of rhetoric delivered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and the number of US and South Korean military assets that are now in the region, the missile would be shot down within minutes of any launch.

The concern is that this could then lead to an uncontrollable escalation in military action by both sides.

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