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Probable Missile Vehicle Spotted at N. Korea Parade Site

William Gallo

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - A vehicle likely large enough to carry an
   intercontinental ballistic missile has been spotted at a North Korean
   parade training site, according to a U.S. research organization, the
   latest evidence Pyongyang may use an upcoming political anniversary to
   showcase missile technology.

   38 North, a website specializing in North Korea, says commercial
   satellite imagery from Tuesday revealed a "probable missile-related
   vehicle" at the Mirim Parade Training Ground on the outskirts of
   Pyongyang, where the North rehearses its major military parades.

   "While imagery resolution is insufficient to determine exactly what the
   vehicle is, relative size and shape suggests that it may be a
   transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) for a large missile," the website
   said late Tuesday.

   The vehicle appears to be around 20 meters long and 3 meters wide,
   "which would be of sufficient size to carry a Hwasong intercontinental
   ballistic missile (ICBM)," the post said. "Alternatively, it could be a
   towed mobile-erector-launcher (MEL) with its truck-tractor attached,"
   it added.

   Satellite images suggest North Korea has been preparing for weeks to
   hold the parade, expected October 10. That is the 75th anniversary of
   the founding of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea. Such
   anniversaries are major events in the single-party, quasi-Stalinist
   dictatorship.

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