US Believes It's Really Another Missile Test

United States intelligence based on spy satellite photos suggests North Korea is preparing another test on a long-range Taepodong-2 missile. North Korea has responded to the accusation by claiming it is getting set to launch a satellite.

CNN cites reports from South Korea's Yonhap news agency that the claim may be posturing ahead of this week's planned visit to South Korea by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency called the missile test accusation a "vicious trick."

"One will come to know later what will be launched in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea... Space development is the independent right of the DPRK and the requirement of the developing reality," reads an official government statement.

Yonhap reports this would not be North Korea's first try at space. After a similar launch in 1998, the country claimed success in putting a satellite in orbit. US intelligence officials later said a three-stage missile was used as a launch vehicle for a small satellite, but the attempt failed when the third stage broke up before reaching orbit.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told his parliament, "Whether it is a missile or a satellite, [a launch] would constitute a violation of the UN Security Council's Resolution 1718."

North Korea last fired a Taepodong missile in July 2006, as ANN reported. The flight reportedly ended 42 seconds after liftoff due to problems with the rocket's first stage.

The timing of this latest show of force from the belligerent Communist state is likely not by accident, as the news came during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first state visit to Japan Monday.

FMI: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html