North Korea Moves Missiles, South Korea Increases Surveillance

South Korea said on Wednesday there was “very high” probability that North Korea, engaged in weeks of threats of war, would launch a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength despite diplomatic efforts to soften its position.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said South Korea had asked China and Russia to intercede with the North to ease tension.

Meanwhile, officials in Seoul said surveillance of North Korean activity had been enhanced. Missile transporters had been spotted in South Hamgyong province along North Korea’s east coast – possible sites for a launch.

North Korea observes several anniversaries in the next few days and they could be pretexts for military displays. These include the first anniversary of Kim’s formal ascent to power, the 20th anniversary of rule by his father Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, and the birth date next Monday of his grandfather, state founder Kim Il-Sung.
In Washington, Admiral Samuel Locklear, the commander of US forces in the Pacific region, also said the US military believed North Korea moved an unspecified number of Musudan missiles to its east coast.
The Musudan can reach targets at a distance of 3,500 km or more, according to South Korea, which would put Japan within range and may even threaten Guam which is home to US bases. South Korea can be reached by the North’s short-range Scud missiles.
The North has been threatening the United States and its “puppet” South Korea almost daily in recent weeks, though the threats appear to be aimed partly at boosting internal support for Kim.
Foreign Minister Yun told a parliamentary hearing in Seoul: “According to intelligence obtained by our side and the US, the possibility of a missile launch by North Korea is very high.”
North Korea, he said, could launch a Musudan missiles “at any time from now. The Musudan missile has a range of 3,500 km and it’s up to North Korea how far it would fly.”

This comes as the US -South Korea Combined Forces Command in Seoul raised its “Watchcon 3” status, a normal condition, by one level in order to step up monitoring and increase the number of intelligence staff, a senior military official told the South’s Yonhap news agency.
“There are clear signs that the North could simultaneously fire off Musudan, Scud and Nodong missiles,” Yonhap quoted an unidentified official as saying.
Yun said he was using diplomatic channels to try to rein in Pyongyang. “Through close coordination with China and Russia, the Korean government has been continuing to make efforts to persuade North Korea to change its attitude,” Yun said.

An Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters “our working assumption is that there are two missiles that they may be prepared to launch”. That was in line with South Korean media reports.
On Tuesday, the North told foreigners in South Korea to leave to avoid being dragged into a “thermonuclear war”. It previously warned diplomats in Pyongyang to prepare to leave.

South Korea’s cybercrime agency, meanwhile, said it had established that the North was behind a hacking incident over three days last month which affected broadcasters and two big commercial banks.”We have collected considerable evidence that this was conducted by North Korea’s spy agency,” Chun Kil-soo of the Korea Internet and Security Agency told reporters outside the capial.
“There were signs that the hackers accessed 1,590 times from six computers located within North Korea and other locations abroad.”