North Korea declares it is free to test missiles

North Korea declared on Tuesday it is free to conduct missile tests despite a self-imposed moratorium, saying it is not bound by prior agreements and that outsiders have no right to criticise its actions.

North Korea declared on Tuesday it is free to conduct missile tests despite a self-imposed moratorium, saying it is not bound by prior agreements and that outsiders have no right to criticise its actions.

8220;This issue concerns our autonomy. Nobody has a right to slander that right,8221; Japan8217;s Kyodo News agency quoted North Korean Foreign Ministry official Lee Byong-tok as telling Japanese reporters in North Korea.

Kyodo also cited Lee as saying Pyongyang8217;s actions are not bound by the joint declaration made at international nuclear disarmament talks last year or an earlier missile moratorium agreed to by Tokyo and Pyongyang in 2002 when their leaders met. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reaffirmed the moratorium in 2004.

Lee told the reporters his remarks represented Pyongyang8217;s official line on the matter, but refused to comment on whether the North would push ahead with the missile test, saying it was inappropriate for a diplomat to give further information, Kyodo said.

Lee8217;s comments came during an interview by Kyodo, the agency said.

An agreement reached at nuclear disarmament talks in September doesn8217;t specifically address missile tests by the North, although negotiators at the Beijing talks8212;which included the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States8212;pledged to work toward peace and stability in the region.

Amid rising tensions in the region over a potential launch, the US staged massive war games in the western Pacific Ocean with 22,000 troops and three aircraft carriers. The US ambassador to South Korea conveyed Washington8217;s concerns over a launch to former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il next week.

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There were conflicting reports about whether a missile launch was imminent.

A Japanese TV report on Tuesday said satellite images show the North was still fueling its missile, because fueling vehicles have been spotted around the suspected launch site in the country8217;s northeast. But workers spotted near the head of the missile on Monday weren8217;t visible on Tuesday, Japan8217;s public broadcaster NHK said, citing US military sources in Japan.

A US official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday that US intelligence indicated that North Korea had finished fueling its long-range missile. However, Japan8217;s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Jinen Nagase said on Tuesday that Japan could not confirm that fueling was complete.

South Korea8217;s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, believes North Korea hasn8217;t yet completed fueling because the 40 tanks seen around a launch site weren8217;t enough to fuel a projectile estimated at 65 tons, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting lawmakers who attended an intelligence briefing.