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Russia wary on Pyongyang missile test, N.Korean Embassy in dark

RIA Novosti

05/07/2006 10:20 MOSCOW, July 5 (RIA Novosti) -Russia's Foreign Ministry reacted cautiously Wednesday to the missile tests conducted by North Korea and diplomats from the secretive communist state in Moscow claimed they had no prior knowledge of the launches.

The communist nation launched six missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, late Tuesday despite a moratorium on missile tests. According to the Japanese military, all missiles fell in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan closer to Russia than to Japan.

Mikhail Kamynin, a spokesman for the Russian ministry, said Russia had been attempting to pinpoint the location where the long-range missile fell closest to the Russian territory, about 250 kilometers (160 miles) off the coast.

"We are continuing to gather information to find the precise location of where the missile came down," Kamynin said. "We will formulate our official response accordingly."

The diplomat also said Russia would play a positive role in the discussion of North Korea's actions at the United Nations. The UN Security Council said it would hold an emergency meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the developments.

"The UN Security Council will hold a meeting today, and Russia's envoy will take a proactive part in it," Kamynin said.

The international community has been quick to condemn the actions of the North Korean regime, which claimed that it had nuclear weapons in 2005.

A U.S. state department official called the test-launches a "provocative act," while Japan and South Korea have put their military on high alert in the wake of the tests.

South Korea has earlier confirmed that five of the missiles were medium-range versions of the old Soviet-made Scud missile. The sixth was the long-range Taepodong-2, which has an estimated range of 6,000 kilometers (3,750 miles) and is believed capable of hitting Alaska.

North Korean diplomats in Moscow, though, denied they had any prior knowledge of the tests.

"We found out about the launch from the Russian media," an anonymous source at the North Korean Embassy in Moscow said.