US to spy over North Korea

THE US air force was yesterday preparing to resume spy flights off the coast of North Korea, while a Japanese report said the North may soon test-fire a missile that could reach nearly all of Japan.

Japan's Defence Agency said it had sent a destroyer equipped with an Aegis missile-detection system to the Sea of Japan but described it as part of regular patrols.

Japan's daily Yomiuri Shimbun said North Korea, which has test-fired two short-range missiles since late February, could be weeks away from launching a medium-range missile its first since August 1998.