North Korea 'moving missile towards west coast' - report

North Korea has been seen moving what appears to be an intercontinental ballistic missile towards its west coast, a report says.

کد خبر: ۷۲۷۴۴۲

تاریخ: ۱۴ شهريور ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۸:۲۶

South Korea's Asia Business Daily cited an intelligence source as saying that the rocket was spotted moving on Monday, the day after North Korea's sixth nuclear test.

The move was made at night to avoid surveillance, according to the report.

South Korea's defence ministry said it could not confirm the report but it had said on Monday that the northern neighbour was ready to launch more missiles.

The North Korean missile programme's launch facilities are on the country's west coast.

Hours earlier, the South Korean Navy held live-fire drills in the Sea of Japan involving the 2,500-tonne frigate Gangwon, a 1,000-tonne patrol ship and 400-tonne guided missile vessels to warn the North.

Captain Choi Young-Chan, commander of the 13th Maritime Battle Group, said: "If the enemy launches a provocation above water or under water, we will immediately hit back to bury them at sea."

North Korea alarmed the region with its most powerful test to date on Sunday, claiming it was a hydrogen bomb that could be mounted onto a long-range missile.

The United States responded by saying that North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was "begging for war" following the rogue state's most powerful nuclear test to date.

The American ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said her country did not want a conflict with the Pyongyang regime but its patience was "not unlimited".

Addressing the UN Security Council, Ms Haley said "enough is enough" and warned its approach of imposing "incremental" sanctions against the secretive nation had not worked.

Sunday's device is thought to have been about five times larger than the bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in World War II and it caused a tremor with a magnitude of 6.3.