Report Claims that North Korea Has Deployed Musudan Missile for Test Launch

This Yonhap report claims that the North Koreans currently have two Musudans deployed near Wonsan in preparation for a possible test fire this week.  This would be a significant test since the Musudan has never been tested before and is believed to have enough range to target Guam.  What would be even more provocative is if they fire this missile over Japan:

North Korea has deployed one or two Musudan mid-range ballistic missiles to near the eastern port city of Wonsan for a possible launch to mark its founding father’s birthday this week, government sources said Thursday.

“North Korea has been detected to have deployed a Musudan missile(s) in the vicinity of Wonsan’s Hodo Peninsula,” one source told Yonhap News Agency.

“After deploying them some 20 days ago, the North has not withdrawn them,” the source said. “Given the fact, North Korea is likely to venture a launch on the occasion of Kim Il-sung’s birthday.”

On Friday, North Korea marks the 104th birthday of the late North Korean founder and leader Kim Il-sun.

The North has celebrated the “Day of the Sun” with elaborate military events in the past, with experts predicting that the event for this year will be marked with a ballistic missile launch.

Other military sources said the missile or the missiles were loaded onto a transporter-erector-launcher or TEL, a mobile missile launcher.

If the launch takes place, it will be North Korea’s first test-launch of the intermediate-range ballistic missile also known as BM-25.

With a range of up to 4,000 kilometers, the missile could fly over South Korea and Japan to reach as far as Guam, where United States military forces are stationed.  [Yonhap]

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