North Korean Missile Test Would Be ‘Provocative,’ U.S. Says

By Michael Heath | Bloomberg.com

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. warned North Korea that test-firing a missile would be viewed as “provocative” after reports the communist state was preparing a rocket launch days after declaring the Korean peninsula was on the brink of war.

“North Korea’s missile activities and, you know, its missile programs are of concern to the region,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters in Washington yesterday. “A ballistic missile launch by North Korea would be unhelpful and, frankly, provocative.”

U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies believe North Korea may be preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, Yonhap News said yesterday, citing an unidentified South Korean security official.

Kim Jong Il’s regime announced Jan. 30 it was scrapping all military and political agreements with South Korea, accusing the government in Seoul of pursuing confrontational policies that were pushing the nations toward conflict. Analysts said North Korea’s rhetoric may have been aimed at drawing the attention of the new Obama administration in Washington …

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