More threats of retaliation

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea vowed to retaliate if punitive U.N. sanctions are imposed for its latest nuclear test, and U.S. officials said there are new signs Pyongyang may be planning more long-range missile launches.

With tensions rising, the communist nation punctuated its barrage of rhetoric with yet another short-range missile launch Friday — the sixth this week.

Perhaps more significantly, officials in Washington said there are indications of increased activity at a site used to fire long-range missiles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because methods of gathering information about North Korea are sensitive.

A South Korean newspaper reported today that U.S. spy satellites detected signs the North was preparing to transport a long-range missile from an armament factory near Pyongyang to its northeastern Musudan-ni launch pad. The mass-circulation Dong-a Ilbo paper, citing an unidentified source in Washington, said it would take about 15 days for the North to move the missile to the pad by train.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report. But a ministry official said the North manufactured the long-range rocket it fired in April at the factory cited by the newspaper and transported it via train to Musudan-ni. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

The U.S. officials also said an initial U.S. air sampling from near the underground test site was inconclusive.

At least one more test is coming.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the latest test launch Friday was a surface-to-air missile designed to defend against aircraft or other missile attacks. It said the missile was believed to be a modified version of the Russian SA-5.

The nuclear test and flurry of missile launches, coupled with the rhetoric from Pyongyang that it won’t honor a 1953 truce ending the fighting in the Korean War, have raised tensions in the region and heightened concerns that the North may provoke a skirmish along the border or off its western coast — the site of deadly clashes in 1999 and 2002.