North Korea asks for direct talks

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said today it wants direct talks with the United States over its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile, a day after the country issued a bristling statement in which it declared its right to carry out the launch.

Tensions in the region have soared following intelligence reports that the North was fueling a ballistic missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory. The United States and Japan have said they could consider sanctions against the impoverished state and push the U.N. Security Council for retaliatory action should the launch go ahead.

The U.S. military Tuesday moved ships into position off the coast of North Korea to detect the launch of any long-range ballistic missiles and prepared its new, unproven missile-interception system to attempt a response if necessary.

It is apparently the first time that the U.S. government has readied its rudimentary missile-defense system other than to test it.

But officials played down the possibility that the interceptors might be used against a North Korean missile, and the South Korean government expressed doubt that Pyongyang is even preparing a test launch of its first intercontinental missile. It suggested that the government of Kim Jong Il might be only readying to send a satellite into space.

North Korea said in comments published today that its self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles from 1999 no longer applies because it’s not in direct dialogue with Washington, suggesting it would hold off on any launch if the U.S. agreed to new talks.

“Some say our missile test launch is a violation of the moratorium, but this is not the case,” Han Song Ryol, deputy chief of North Korea’s mission to the United Nations, told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency in an interview from New York.

“North Korea as a sovereign state has the right to develop, deploy, test fire and export a missile,” he said. “We are aware of the U.S. concerns about our missile test-launch. So our position is that we should resolve the issue through negotiations.”

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also ran a report today on U.S. officials urging direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang in regard to the standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Pyongyang has consistently pressed for direct dialogue with the United States, while Washington insists it will only speak to the North at six-nation nuclear talks. The North has refused to return to those nuclear talks since November because of a U.S. crackdown on the country’s alleged illicit financial activity.

The new statement from the North came after France and the U.N. secretary-general raised the alarm over what are believed to be the North’s preparations for a test of the Taepodong-2, with a range of up to 9,300 miles. Japan and South Korea also pledged to cooperate to stop Pyongyang’s apparent plans for a launch.

Two U.S. Navy ships with sensors that would swiftly detect and track a missile’s flight were operating off the North Korean coast Tuesday, a Pentagon official said.

Also, as part of a long-planned exercise, the Navy has three carrier battle groups operating near Guam in the western Pacific for the first time since the Vietnam War, along with dozens of aircraft, including several heavy bombers.