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US destroyers set sail ahead of DPRK launch

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-30 23:32

SEOUL, South Korea -- Two US destroyers capable of tracking and intercepting missiles set sail from South Korea on Monday, days ahead of the expected launch of a rocket by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

US Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) sails off a naval port in Busan, about 420 km (262 miles) southeast of Seoul, March 30, 2009, heading to the East Sea (Sea of Japan). [Agencies]

Related readings:  US deploys anti-missile ships before DPRK launch  Defense chief: US not to shoot down missile launched by DPRK  Japan braces itself for DPRK's planned rocket launch  China has no deployments against DPRK rocket launch

The USS McCain and the USS Chafee left from the port of Busan, a US military spokesman said. He refused to divulge their destination, but South Korean news reports cited unnamed officials as saying the US ships will monitor Pyongyang's rocket launch set for April 4-8.

Pyongyang says it will send a communications satellite into orbit, but the United States, Japan and South Korea suspected that it might be a long-range ballistic missile test. The three countries have warned the DPRK to drop the plan, saying it would face UN sanctions under a Security Council resolution banning the country from any ballistic activity.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday on Fox television that the US won't try to intercept the rocket unless an "aberrant missile" were headed to Hawaii "or something like that."

Commercial satellite imagery taken Sunday by DigitalGlobe clearly shows what appears to be a three-stage launch vehicle on the east coast launch pad in Musudan-ni on the DPRK's east coast, said Tim Brown, an analyst for Globalsecurity.org.

However, it remains unclear whether the rocket is a long-range Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile or a space launch vehicle designed to carry a satellite, Brown said.

Pyongyang says it will quit the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks if punished with sanctions. The country's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper reiterated that stance Sunday, saying the talks will "completely collapse" if taken to the Security Council.

In Seoul, President Lee Myung-bak also said South Korea opposes any military response to the launch.

"Taking a harder stance: I don't think that would necessarily be helpful in achieving" Seoul's objective of ridding Pyongyang of its nuclear program, Lee told the Financial Times newspaper.

South Korea and the US are taking a measured approach because they want to resume nuclear disarmament negotiations with Pyongyang -- and because the US and DPRK likely will hold their first direct talks since President Barack Obama's inauguration, said analyst Kim Yong-hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University.

However, South Korea plans to dispatch an Aegis-equipped destroyer off the east coast to monitor the launch, and Japan has nearly completed deployment of its missile defenses. Tokyo has stationed Patriot missiles around Tokyo, destroyers in the Sea of Japan and more interceptors are on their way to the northern coastline, Japanese defense officials said Monday.

The two US missile destroyers, equipped with combat systems that allow it to track over 100 targets more than 120 miles (190 kilometers) away, have been in South Korean waters joint military drills with South Korea from March 9-20. The military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the deployments with the media, confirmed the warships were to depart Busan on Monday.