N. Korea has deployed more than 10 intermediate ballistic missiles: Japan

TOKYO -- North Korea has completed deployment of more than10 No-Dong intermediate ballistic missiles capable of striking Japan and other areas of east Asia, officials said on Wednesday.

Japanese officials said Pyongyang completed deployment as part of its plans to accelerate ballistic missile development and acquisition. They said the deployment was completed despite North Korea's fiscal crisis.

On Wednesday, Nihon Keizai business daily reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told a parliamentary committee that North Korea has prepared at least 10 of the weapons for launch.

Last August, North Korea launched an intercontinental missile that flew over Japan. The test has led to coordination between Japan, South Korea and the United States regarding Pyongyang's missile program.

The missile test and clashes between North and South Korean ships prompted the U.S. military to dispatch a ship to Japan's southern coast last month. U.S. officials said the move was to monitor ``foreign missile launches.''

The U.S. Navy has also sent two guided missile cruisers, a nuclear submarine and a full battle group to Korean waters where warships of both Koreas exchanged fire in a disputed area of the Yellow Sea earlier this month.

The assertion about the North Korean missile deployment came as the Japanese parliament approved $1 billion in aid to Pyongyang to persuade it to stop its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program.

Japanese officials said the government is stepping up preparations against a North Korea attack. A government panel last month proposed that the Japanese navy be allowed to intercept North Korean ships that threaten to cross into Japanese waters as well as boster defenses against cemical and biological attack.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Rep. Curt Weldon, a Republican from Pennsylvania and head of a subcommittee that deals with ballistic missile program, said, "We expect the North Koreans to test a Taepo Dong II missile, which will be able to carry a nuclear warhead into our mainland."

U.S. officials said that missile will have a longer range than that tested in July 1998. They warned that such a test would set back efforts to improve Washington's relations with Pyongyang.