U.S. Delays Ballistic Missile Test to Cool North Korea Tensions
The U.S. has delayed a ballistic missile test to avoid stoking tensions with North Korea, which has warned diplomats to consider evacuating from Pyongyang as a nuclear crisis brews on the Korean peninsula.
The Pentagon's disclosure that it would reschedule the intercontinental missile test due in California next week comes as the international community grows increasingly nervous that the situation could spiral out of control.
A U.S. defense official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel postponed the Minuteman 3 test at Vandenberg Air Force Base until next month due to concerns it "might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea."
"We wanted to avoid that misperception or manipulation," the U.S. official told Agence France Presse. "We are committed to testing our ICBMs to ensure a safe, secure, effective nuclear arsenal."
South Korea and the U.S. also postponed a major military meeting due to take place in Washington, an official said Sunday.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Seoul counterpart General Jung Seung-Jo were to coordinate policy on the North and other issues during the annual Military Committee Meeting on April 16.
But the meeting between the two allies had been delayed at Seoul's request, a spokesman for Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.
North Korea, incensed by U.N. sanctions and South Korea-U.S. military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.
It has also reportedly loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast, raising the specter it is preparing for a provocative launch.
Foreign diplomats in Pyongyang huddled at the weekend to discuss the North's warning that it could not guarantee their safety after April 10 if a conflict broke out, although most appeared to be staying put.
Most of their governments have made it clear they have no immediate plans to withdraw personnel, and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the current crisis on the Korean peninsula.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Sunday that North Korea must ensure the security of embassies on its soil after Pyongyang warned diplomats that it could not protect them if a conflict broke out.
"Foreign Minister Westerwelle reiterated that any deadline after which North Korea would no longer ensure the security of embassies is unacceptable," his ministry said after he spoke by telephone with Berlin's envoy to Pyongyang.
"There are clear guidelines under international law that are also binding for North Korea. The stoking of tensions by North Korea is irresponsible and a real threat to peace and security in the region."
The ministry repeated a statement from Saturday that Germany's embassy in Pyongyang was still working "for the time being" and that it was continually evaluating its travel and security advisories for the country.
The United Nations has also said it had no plans to pull staff.
Britain urged calm on Sunday over the spiraling nuclear tensions, saying that Pyongyang had shown no signs of repositioning its armed forces despite its "paranoid rhetoric".
Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was no immediate need to withdraw British diplomats despite Pyongyang warning that it could not guarantee their safety if conflict broke out.
"It is important to stress that we haven't seen in recent days, in recent weeks a change in what is happening in North Korean society. We've not been able to observe that," Hague told BBC television.
The North's mobilized missiles are reported to be untested Musudan models which are believed to have a range of around 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers) that could theoretically be pushed to 2,485 miles with a light payload.
That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach U.S. military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.
The North has no proven inter-continental ballistic missile capability that would enable it to strike more distant U.S. targets, and many experts say it is unlikely it can even mount a nuclear warhead on a mid-range missile.
After non-stop escalation including the public deployment of U.S. warships and planes to the region, the Pentagon move was a welcome measure to cool tensions, said Yang Moo-Jin from the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
"The U.S. military may have felt that now was time to pace itself after weeks of hectic military confrontation," he told AFP.
"If the North really launches intermediate-range missiles as widely feared, the U.S. may be partially blamed for having pushed it to take such drastic action by deploying extremely threatening weaponry near the Korean peninsula."
Western tourists returning from organized tours in Pyongyang -- which have continued despite the tensions -- said the situation on the ground appeared calm, with life going on as normal.
"We're glad to be back but we didn't feel frightened when we were there," said Tina Krabbe, from Denmark, arriving in Beijing this weekend after five days in North Korea.
North Korea on Wednesday put in place a ban on South Koreans accessing their companies in the Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial zone on the North side of the border. There are no cross-trips on Sundays.
Kaesong, which was established in 2004 and is a crucial hard currency source for North Korea, is the only surviving example of inter-Korean cooperation and seen as a bellwether for stability on the Korean peninsula.
Source: Agence France Presse
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