N Korea 'removes' missiles from east coast launch site

The news that the missiles had been removed from the site on the east coast came on the eve of a summit in Washington between the US and South Korean presidents.

A test launch would be a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718, passed in 2006, which states the North "must not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile".

Pyongyang had issued a series of threats in apparent response to the expanded UN sanctions and the US-South Korea drills - which saw nuclear-capable B2 and B52 bombers flown over the Korean peninsula.

These included warnings of attacks on Japan, South Korea and US military bases in the region, and a pledge to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor that produced plutonium for its weapons programme.

In addition, it shut down an emergency military hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang, and later withdrew some 53,000 workers in April from the Kaesong factory zone on the border with South Korea.

The industrial complex, which was launched in 2003, employed people from both countries and was seen as one of the last remaining symbols of inter-Korean co-operation.

The final South Korean workers left the factory last week - the first time they have done so since the zone began operating 10 years ago.

However the tone of the rhetoric from North Korea has softened somewhat in recent days, observers say.
BBC