Two Musudan missiles capable of reaching South Korea and Japan have been mounted on to launchers, according to reports
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guardian.co.uk, Friday 5 April 2013 13.16 BST
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A South Korean soldier stands guard near the demilitarised zone dividing the country from the North, in the border city of Paju. Photograph: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty
North Korea has reportedly positioned two intermediate-range missiles on to mobile launchers on its east coast, as tensions in the region continue to escalate despite international efforts to defuse the situation.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited Seoul military sources as saying the rockets were Musudan missiles, believed to have a range of at least 1,875 miles, which would put South Korea and Japan and possibly the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean in range. The report could not be confirmed.
Yonhap reported that South Korea had reacted to the threats from Pyongyang by deploying two battleships capable of intercepting and destroying ballistic missiles. The US has already moved interceptor missiles and warships to the region to defend against a possible attack.
Meanwhile, North Korea has contacted foreign embassies in the country in what Britain has described as "continuing rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them".
It told foreign embassies to consider evacuating if tensions flare, China's official Xinhua news agency reported, citing diplomatic sources.
A Musudan-class missile, shown here during a 2012 military parade. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Pyongyang confirmed that North Korea had asked it to consider evacuating staff. Denis Samsonov told Reuters that Russia was examining the request, but was not planning to evacuate at this stage as there were no outward signs of tension in the North Korean capital.
The Foreign Office said the British embassy had only been asked whether its staff intended to leave and had not been instructed to consider evacuation.
It added: "The DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] has responsibilities under the Vienna convention to protect diplomatic missions, and we believe they have taken this step as part of their continuing rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them. We are considering next steps, including a change to our travel advice."
There are doubts about the Musudan's accuracy and range, and some suspect long-range missiles unveiled by Pyongyang at a parade last year were mock-ups.
The South Korean defence minister said on Thursday that Pyongyang had moved a missile with considerable range to its east coast, but insisted there were no signs that North Korea was preparing for a full-scale conflict. Kim Kwan-jin said he did not know why the North had moved the missile but suggested it "could be for testing or drills".
The tit-for-tat moves will reinforce fears of a downward spiral. On Thursday, the US state department responded to questions suggesting that it had not helped the situation by insisting it had no choice but to respond in this way.
"When you have a country that is making the kind of bellicose statements and taking the kind of steps that they have, you have to take it seriously and you have to take steps to defend the US and its allies," said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "The ratcheting up of tension on the DPRK side was the cause of us shoring up our defensive posture."
The South Korean leader, Park Geun-hye, is due to meet Barack Obama in Washington for talks next week. Photograph: Kim Jae-Hwan/AP Washington also announced fresh moves to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis, revealing that it had made a phonecall to officials in Beijing to ask them to press Pyongyang to tone down its rhetoric.
The secretary of state, John Kerry, is due to meet his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on a scheduled visit to Asia. The South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, is also due to meet Barack Obama in the US for talks next week.
The state department said it was optimistic that the international alliance calling on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons programme would hold firm and "recognise the threat we share is common and that we are stronger if we work together".
Nuland urged Pyongyang to return to the international community and see an end to sanctions. "This does not have to get hotter," she said. "They just have to comply with their international obligations."
In the past week North Korea has issued a stream of threats in the most significant bout of sabre-rattling since an artillery exchange between the North and South in 2010. It also closed the shared Kaesong industrial zone and vowed to restart a mothballed nuclear plant.
Officials in South Korea stress they do not think an attack is imminent, but the risk of accidental conflict is high after North Korea withdrew from a system of hotlines. Seoul also adopted a more proactive deterrence strategy after attacks by the North in 2010, threatening to respond with disproportionate force to any future provocation.
