US slams N Korea missile test

THE US government last night denounced North Korea’s “bullying” after reports it had launched a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan, in a test.

“It appears that there was a test of a short-range missile by the North Koreans and it landed in the Sea of Japan,” White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said.

US officials said the military picked up indications that there was a new missile test, but US agencies were still assessing the information to determine exactly what took place.

The incident comes amid what officials said were growing US concerns that North Korea might be trying to harvest nuclear material from a shut-down reactor and may be preparing for an underground nuclear test.

The US Defence Intelligence Agency warned last week that North Korea has the ability to mount a nuclear missile on a long-range missile and the communist state could hit US territory.

Asked what North Korea hoped to achieve by testing the missile, Mr Card said: “I think they’re looking to kind of be bullies in the world. And they’re causing others to stand up and take notice.”

Mr Card accused North Korean leader Kim Jong-il of flaunting his weapons programmes and violating past agreements.

“He is not a good person. He is not a good leader,” Mr Card said.

President George Bush has called on North Korea to return to talks aimed at ending the reclusive state’s nuclear programme.

The talks have been stalled for almost a year, and recent efforts to restart them have shown little progress.

North Korea has occasionally test fired short-range missiles before. In 1998, it fired a long-range missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean, stunning the Japanese government.

In March, Pyongyang threatened to resume testing, saying it was no longer bound by a 1999 missile test moratorium to which it agreed when it was in talks with the US.