U.S.: N. Korea tested missile site

WASHINGTON - North Korea tested the engine on a long-range missile at its new missile-launch test site several months ago, a U.S. official said yesterday.

It is the first acknowledged use of North Korea's new, larger west coast missile-launch facility.

The official is involved in a U.S. effort to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

The Taepodong 2 missile engine tested is not believed to represent a new, longer-range capability. The missile is estimated to have a range of about 2,500 miles, potentially threatening the western edge of Alaska. The range could be extended with engine improvements and light payloads.

The engine was tested on an engine test stand, a critical facility for measuring vibration from the engines and adjusting guidance systems to account for it. That can help make missiles more accurate.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack would not confirm the test yesterday but said that if one occurred, it would violate a U.N. resolution banning North Korean tests of ballistic missiles and components.

"Any ballistic-missile tests of the kind reported would not be permitted under 1718," McCormack told reporters.

North Korea set off a failed long-range Taepodong 2 space-launch vehicle in 2006 from Musudan-ni. That test alarmed the world and gave new energy to the stop-and-start diplomacy over North Korea's nuclear program. It also conducted a surprise launch of a Taepodong 1 over Japan in 1998 from that east coast site. Pyongyang has not yet tried to launch the ballistic-missile version of Taepodong 2.

A major South Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, first reported the engine ignition test yesterday, quoting an unnamed South Korea government official.