North Korea has moved its most advanced long-range missile to a new launch site and has banned ships from the waters off its west coast through the end of July, news reports said Monday, moves that threaten to exacerbate tensions on the peninsula.
The missile, which has arrived at the Dongchang-ni launch site on the northwest coast, is believed to be a version of the Taepodong-2 rocket that the North fired on April 5 saying it was a satellite launch, the South Korean Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.
The North could fire the missile as early as June 16 when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and US President Barack Obama hold a summit in Washington, the paper said, citing unidentified officials in Washington and Seoul.
Another mass-market South Korean paper, JoongAng Ilbo, carried a similar report.
