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North Korea test fires missile

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea apparently test fired a missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday, raising new fears about Pyongyang's nuclear intentions just days after a U.S. intelligence official said the secretive state had the ability in theory to arm a missile with a nuclear warhead.

News of the test launch first appeared in Japanese media reports, citing U.S. military officials as having informed the Japanese and South Korean governments of the test launch, which took the missile about 65 miles off the North Korean coast. Later, the White House chief of staff confirmed the incident in an interview with CNN's Late Edition .

"It appears that there was a test of a short-range missile by the North Koreans and it landed in the Sea of Japan. We're not surprised by this. The North Koreans have tested their missiles before. They've had some failures," Andrew Card told the cable network.

On Thursday, Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate that the North Koreans knew how to arm a missile with a nuclear weapon, a potentially significant advance for the communist state.

He did not specify whether he was talking about a short-range or long-range missile, the latter believed capable of hitting the United States.

The Sunday test-firing occurred on the eve of a crucial gathering at the United Nations to review global progress on curbing nuclear proliferation.

North Korea has test fired short-range missiles many times in the past.

The Sunday test, however, occurred at an especially worrisome time as the North appeared to have resumed efforts to move forward with its nuclear weapons program.

South Korean officials said last month that Pyongyang had recently shut down a nuclear reactor, possibly to harvest more weapons-grade plutonium.

[Last modified May 2, 2005, 01:43:05]