Russia concerned over N. Korea missile tests - senior diplomat

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (R) shakes hands with Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Vladimir Rakhmanin (L) as North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-gwan waves at the end of six party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue in Beijing July 20, 2007. Grinding talks to end North Korea's nuclear arms ambitions will shift to technical wrangling over disarmament steps, envoys said on Friday as they endorsed a broad plan lacking any deadline. REUTERS/Greg Baker/Pool (CHINA)


Russia concerned over N. Korea missile tests - senior diplomat
20:39 | 02/ 08/ 2007



MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program said Thursday that although Pyongyang's ballistic missiles are technically backward, Moscow is nevertheless concerned over the country's missile test firings.
"We do not consider these weapons [North Korean missiles] to be technologically advanced, but it concerns us all the more because we cannot predict where the missiles could be flying," Vladimir Rakhmanin said in an interview with Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio.
Envoys from China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas have recently discussed arrangements for the second phase of North Korea's nuclear disarmament process after Pyongyang promised to declare and deactivate all its nuclear facilities.
Rakhmanin said North Korea's missile tests had not been discussed at the recent negotiations, but that a Russia-led working group on security in northwest Asia, formed within the framework of the six-party talks, could raise the issue at any point.
North Korea conducted at least three test launches of short-range ballistic missiles this year, the latest being fired in June while the G8 summit was being held in Germany.
In April, Pyongyang demonstrated new medium-range missiles during a military parade. Some experts believe these missiles are an improved version of Soviet-made SSN-6 Sawfly with estimated range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles).
In May 2005, the country launched short-range missiles from its eastern coast, and in July 2006 a total of seven missiles, including the Taepodong-2, which has a range of up to 6,000 km (3,700 miles).
The reclusive Communist state first test-fired a long-range ballistic missile over Japan in 1998, prompting Tokyo to begin researching missile defense.