SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea is forging ahead with preparations to test-fire a missile but a launch does not appear imminent, Seoul's new unification minister said Wednesday as Pyongyang warned of a "merciless" retaliation against any U.S.-South Korean invasion.
Tensions are high on the Korean peninsula, with the North announcing last week that it will send a communications satellite into orbit as part of its space program -- a claim neighboring governments believe is a cover for a test of a long-range missile capable of reaching Alaska.
U.S. President Barack Obama dispatched his new envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, to Asia for talks with China, Japan, South Korea and Russia on North Korea. The five nations are seeking to convince the North to abide by a disarmament-for-aid pact the regime signed in 2007.
With the disarmament talks stalled, analysts say North Korea is trying to grab Obama's attention and could carry out the launch toward the end of March or early next month.
"I think various preparations are progressing, though a launch does not appear to be very imminent," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, a hard-liner recently appointed to head the ministry in charge of relations with Pyongyang, told reporters. He did not elaborate.
Hyun's appointment has further soured inter-Korean ties already at their lowest point in years over President Lee Myung-bak's tough stance on the North. Upcoming joint military exercises between South Korean and U.S. troops also have touched off North Korean nerves.
The U.S. military has more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to help monitor a 1953 cease-fire brokered by the United Nations. Joint exercises are due to begin next week.
North Korea is ready to take "merciless actions" and "powerful military countermeasures" if Washington and its allies strike, the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary Wednesday, according to state-run media.
"If the enemy intrudes ... even 0.001 mm" into the North, the paper said, North Korea will deal the enemy "a thousand-fold retaliatory blow."
Washington and Seoul have said the exercises are a routine annual drill, and not preparations for any attack on the North.
In Australia, Lee urged Pyongyang not to launch a missile, according to the Yonhap news agency.
"North Korea has taken such actions as firing a missile in the past at times that it sees as appropriate," Lee said. "I believe it is again trying to take such a strong action because a new U.S. administration has been inaugurated."
Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have warned that a launch, whether a missile or a satellite, would violate a UN Security Council resolution banning the North from any ballistic missile activity. Satellites and missiles use similar delivery systems, analysts say.
North Korea unsuccessfully test-fired a long-range missile in 2006 but is believed to have made improvements in its missile capabilities since then. Analysts say satellite images reveal brisk activity at a launch pad in North Korea's northeast.
In Australia, Lee also said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who reportedly suffered a stroke in August, remains in control of the country, Yonhap reported.
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Tensions are high on the Korean peninsula, with the North announcing last week that it will send a communications satellite into orbit as part of its space program -- a claim neighboring governments believe is a cover for a test of a long-range missile capable of reaching Alaska.
U.S. President Barack Obama dispatched his new envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, to Asia for talks with China, Japan, South Korea and Russia on North Korea. The five nations are seeking to convince the North to abide by a disarmament-for-aid pact the regime signed in 2007.
With the disarmament talks stalled, analysts say North Korea is trying to grab Obama's attention and could carry out the launch toward the end of March or early next month.
"I think various preparations are progressing, though a launch does not appear to be very imminent," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, a hard-liner recently appointed to head the ministry in charge of relations with Pyongyang, told reporters. He did not elaborate.
Hyun's appointment has further soured inter-Korean ties already at their lowest point in years over President Lee Myung-bak's tough stance on the North. Upcoming joint military exercises between South Korean and U.S. troops also have touched off North Korean nerves.
The U.S. military has more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to help monitor a 1953 cease-fire brokered by the United Nations. Joint exercises are due to begin next week.
North Korea is ready to take "merciless actions" and "powerful military countermeasures" if Washington and its allies strike, the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary Wednesday, according to state-run media.
"If the enemy intrudes ... even 0.001 mm" into the North, the paper said, North Korea will deal the enemy "a thousand-fold retaliatory blow."
Washington and Seoul have said the exercises are a routine annual drill, and not preparations for any attack on the North.
In Australia, Lee urged Pyongyang not to launch a missile, according to the Yonhap news agency.
"North Korea has taken such actions as firing a missile in the past at times that it sees as appropriate," Lee said. "I believe it is again trying to take such a strong action because a new U.S. administration has been inaugurated."
Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have warned that a launch, whether a missile or a satellite, would violate a UN Security Council resolution banning the North from any ballistic missile activity. Satellites and missiles use similar delivery systems, analysts say.
North Korea unsuccessfully test-fired a long-range missile in 2006 but is believed to have made improvements in its missile capabilities since then. Analysts say satellite images reveal brisk activity at a launch pad in North Korea's northeast.
In Australia, Lee also said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who reportedly suffered a stroke in August, remains in control of the country, Yonhap reported.
