SEOUL, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - Although North Korea has apparently withdrawn its Musudan mid-range missiles from their launch site, several Scud and Rodong missiles are still deployed on the east coast and seem to be on the highest alert, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo daily cited a Defense Ministry source as saying on Wednesday.
He also suggested the withdrawal of the Musudan missiles could be a ploy.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok refused to give detailed information about the withdrawal of the Musudan missiles, saying it was an "intelligence matter." He also refused to confirm whether the North had reduced the alert level.
South Korean news agency Yonhap said on Tuesday two Musudan intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBM) reportedly prepared for launch in April were recently withdrawn from their coastal positions.
The move follows the lifting by Pyongyang of its highest combat alert for its armed forces, an unnamed senior official in the South Korean government was cited as saying.
It remained unclear whether the two Musudan missiles were redeployed or moved to a storage facility, though an unnamed source at the US government cited by Reuters said the latter is more likely.
The deployment of Musudan missiles on North Korea’s east coast last month fueled speculations that the IRBMs may undergo their first confirmed launch.
The missiles, premiered in 2010 but never tested, to public knowledge, have an estimated range of 3,500 to 4,000 kilometers, enough to reach South Korea, Japan, most of China and Russia, and a US military base in Guam.
Tensions flared on the Korean peninsula after North Korea’s third nuclear test in February, which prompted new international sanctions and joint US-South Korean military exercises, to which Pyongyang responded with threats of war, including strikes on the US mainland.
