Sources: North Korea Has an ICBM on the Move

And why Sept. 9 could be significant
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 5, 2017 6:16 AM CDT
Sources: North Korea Has an ICBM on the Move
In this undated file image distributed on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location.   (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

Following North Korea's most powerful weapons test yet on Sunday, a South Korean lawmaker tells CNN his country's intelligence service believes the North has an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the move. Things get pretty vague beyond that: He didn't know the method of transport or when the movement was noticed. But Reuters does pick up some alleged details on those fronts, via an unnamed source quoted by South Korea’s Asia Business Daily. Its source says the ICBM started moving Monday, is only being moved at night, and is headed toward the nation's west coast. Reuters notes there's some likelihood that another test could come on or around Saturday: Sept. 9 is the country's founding day holiday. CNBC notes North Korea conducted a nuke test on Sept. 9, 2016.

Two more details that allegedly came from the South's National Intelligence Service briefing: word that additional tunnels have been dug out at the North's nuclear test site that would facilitate future detonations, and suspicions that the next ICBM test firing might be directed toward the North Pacific but aimed at a lower angle, which would in theory allow it to fly further than previous tests, which had more of an upward trajectory. Meanwhile, the White House tells Reuters it has given "in-principle approval" to a request by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to abolish a limit regarding warhead weights, a move that would strengthen the power with which it could attack the North, if necessary. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday gave his take on the situation: North Korea "will eat grass but will not give up the (nuclear) program if they don't feel safe." (More North Korea stories.)

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