NKorea starts assembling long-range nuclear missile

PANMUNJOM, South Korea (AFP) - North Korea appears to have begun assembling a missile believed capable of striking US soil, a report said Wednesday as tensions rose along the land and sea border with the South.
The communist regime of ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has defied international criticism of its second nuclear test by firing a volley of short-range missiles and threatening to attack the capitalist South.
It is now said to be preparing to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile as well as several medium-range missiles.
The North is believed to have started putting together a long-range missile that may be a modified version of the Taepodong-2, which it fired over Japan in April, South Koreas JoongAng Ilbo daily reported Wednesday.
Although the missile is being kept under covers, the length of its propulsion rocket seems to be longer than the last one fired in April although its shape looks similar, it quoted a government source as saying.
The North said its last long-range rocket launch on April 5 was to put a satellite into orbit.
Analysts believe Kim is trying to bolster his authority so he can put in place a succession plan reportedly involving his third son, 26-year-old Kim Jong-Un.
South Korean and US forces on the peninsula are on heightened alert after the North warned of a possible attack in response to Seouls decision to join a US-led initiative to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The situation is tense along the heavily fortified land border, where North and South Korean troops eye each other warily from either side of the demarcation line.
Meanwhile, the deputy head of US forces in the South has said that US forces in South Korea will deploy unmanned spy planes to keep closer watch over nuclear-armed North Korea amid mounting tensions on the peninsula.
Lieutenant General Jeffrey Remington said the US Air Force in the South would retire decades-old U-2 spy planes and replace them with Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance planes. Remingtons comments in an interview with Dong-A Ilbo newspaper were confirmed by his public affairs officer.
The general also said South Korea should buy the Global Hawks to improve the surveillance capability of the joint force.
North Korea on May 25 staged its second nuclear test. It followed up by renouncing the armistice in force for more than 50 years on the peninsula, firing six short-range missiles and threatening the South with possible attack.