North Korean missile launcher in a "raised position"

          
The border between South and North Korea remained tense on Thursday, as more South Korean workers returned from the Kaesong industrial complex, heading south across the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two nations.       

Vehicles loaded with goods were seen passing through a checkpoint into the inter-Korea Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) area in Paju.        

North Korea has pulled out its 53-thousand workers from the Kaesong complex, which is North Korea's last major economic link with the South.        

A South Korean Defense Ministry official said on Thursday that Seoul has deployed three naval destroyers, an early warning surveillance aircraft and a land-based radar system, as the South braced for what the country's foreign minister warned could be a test-fire of a medium-range missile.       

At a news conference in Seoul, South Korean defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said he was unable to confirm a Japanese media report that a North Korean missile launcher has moved into firing position with its rockets facing skyward.         

Japanese news agency Kyodo reported earlier on Thursday that the North Korean missile launcher was in a "raised position."          

Kim told reporters that South Korea is fully prepared and has the ability to intercept North Korean missiles.        

North Korea is believed to be readying a missile dubbed the "Musudan," named after the village where a northeastern launch pad is based.          

The missile has a range of 3,500 kilometers (2,180 miles), and is designed to reach US military installments in Guam and Japan, experts say.          

Pyongyang has not announced plans to fire a missile, but has delivered increasingly belligerent rhetoric in recent weeks in anger over joint US-South Korean military exercises being conducted in the South until the end of April.        

This week, it warned that nuclear war was imminent and urged foreign tourists in South Korea to take cover.        

But many tourists in South Korea appeared undaunted by the North's rhetoric and were continuing with their trips as planned.        

A group of tourists visited a viewing platform on the border between the two nations on Thursday, peering at North Korea through binoculars.           

"There is no commotion in South Korea, as we are ensuring firm national security," said South Korean tourist Jang Dong-jun.         

North Korea's threats are largely seen as rhetoric and an attempt by North Korea to pressure Washington and Seoul to change their policies toward Pyongyang, as well as to boost the military credentials of their young leader.        

North Korea does not have diplomatic relations with the US and South Korea, its foes during the Korean War of the 1950s, and has pushed for a peace treaty to replace a 60-year-old armistice.        


AP