Japan detects radio signals of suspected N.Korean missile launch

Tokyo, Nov 28 (IANS) Japan has detected the radio signals which indicate that North Korea may be preparing for a new missile launch, authorities announced on Tuesday.

The radio signals pointed to the North Korean Army's possible launch of a ballistic missile "within the next few days", reports Efe news.

However, the authorities said that at the moment no satellite has detected the deployment of any launching platform; hence these signals could be linked to the winter manoeuvers of the North Korean troops.

Meanwhile, a South Korean government source told Yonhap news agency on Tuesday that all the military intelligence agencies of Seoul, Tokyo and Washington have detected in recent days the radio signals such as those that had been detected before a launch.

When asked about this information, Pentagon spokesperson Colonel Robert Manning only maintained that Washington continued to watch Pyongyang very closely.

After a year of constant weapons tests, governments and analysts have speculated possible reasons of the Kim Jong-un regime's test launches over a period of two and a half months.

The last time the North Korean Army conducted one of these tests was on September 15, when it fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

While some experts believe that the halt may be seasonal due to the aforementioned winter manoeuvers or the abundant resources having been diverted for harvesting the crops in the impoverished country, others believe that Pyongyang might be considering resuming some form of dialogue.

On the other hand, some analysts believe that the US President Donald Trump's decision on November 20 to re-include North Korea on the list of state sponsors of terrorism could push Pyongyang to conduct more weapons tests.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)