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Japan to buy satellite photos of N. Korea from U.S. firm

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, January 14, 2000

TOKYO -- A senior government official said Thursday that Japan is considering purchasing satellite imagery of North Korea's missile test site from a private U.S. firm.

Senior Japenese government spokesman Mikio Aoki said Thursday that Japan's Defense Agency is seriously considering buying from the Colorado-based Space Imaging satellite photographs of North Korea's Taepodong missile test site taken in November.

"I understand the Defense Agency is considering buying the photos,'' Aoki told a news conference.

Japan is increasingly worried over the North Korean missile threat, especially after North Korean test-fired a medium-range Taepodong-1 missile in August 1998 that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific.

Government officials say the recent satellite photos will help understand the North Korean missile program.

Space Imaging has started to commercialize top-secret spy satellite imagery, previously available only to U.S. government officials with security clearances.

Earlier, the Federation of American Scientists [FAS], a public policy group focused on national security issues, bought the photos of the North Korean missile test site and posted them on its Web site http://www.fas.org.

But FAS officials said the North Korean threat has been exaggerated and that Pyongyang's facilities are primitive. The group said the Nodong test site is "barely worthy of note, consisting of the most minimal imaginable test infrastructure. It is quite evident that this facility was not intended to support, and in many respects is incapable of supporting, the extensive test program that would be needed to fully develop a reliable missile system."

So far, two tests were conducted at the facility near the town of Nodong, about 10 kilometers from the town of Taepodong.

Western defense analysts believe North Korea is developing a Taepodong-2 missile, placing Alaska or Hawaii within striking distance. Last summer, North Korea appeared to be making preparations for a test launch but agreed to suspend it in September after the U.S. eased economic sanctions and began talks in an effort to improve relations with North Korea.

In an unrelated development, Boeing Co. is reportedly negotiating to buy Hughes Electronics Corp.'s satellite manufacturing operations, a deal that would make the aircraft builder a major player in space-based communications. Boeing already has several satellite launch programs including SeaLaunch, which uses a Russian-built rocket that blasts off from a floating launch pad, and the Delta family of land-based rockets.

Both spokesman for Boeing and Hughes declined to comment on the Dow Jones Newswires report on Wednesday that cited unidentified sources familiar with the deal.

According to the report, Boeing's board will meet Thursday to discuss the $4 billion deal.

Friday, January 14, 2000

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