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Tokyo Has No 'Solid' Info About NK Plan to Test-fire Missile

96-10-22 18:36:09

Japan's defense chief said Tuesday he had not received solid information that North Korea would go ahead with test firing of its Rodong-1 missile, which is capable of reaching most parts of Japan.

``We are receiving various pieces of information, and we are closely watching the situation,'' Defense Agency director-general Hideo Usui told reporters, referring to reports last week that North Korea was preparing for the test-firing.

But he said none of the information obtained was ``solid.''

Kyodo News said last week that Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force has sent a vessel to the East Sea (Sea of Japan) at the request of the United States to collect information on the reported test-firing plan.

On Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said Washington would be ``very concerned'' if the reports proved true and urged Pyongyang to ``refrain from action such as this.''

Tension in the Korean peninsula mounted recently after intrusion of a North Korean submarine into southern territory last month. South Korean President Kim Young-sam on Monday demanded the North apologize for the incursion.