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S. Korea, US well equipped to detect N. Korean missile despite cover

August 3, 2015

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the U.S. are well equipped to detect any signs of a North Korean missile launch despite the reported cover being installed over the North Korean launching pad, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

Japan’s Kyodo News reported earlier in the day that the North is installing a cover over the Tongchang-ri rocket launch pad to “evade surveillance by spy satellites.”

The cover will make it difficult for South Korea and the U.S. to catch any missile assembly activities inside, Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said in reaction to the report.

“(But) The South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities will detect the signs well enough through various intelligence tools if the North pushes for a long-range missile provocation such as the one the country did in the past under the cover of a satellite launch,” Kim noted.

According to South Korean government officials, North Korea has almost completely modified the launch facility near the western coast as the country is preparing a possible long-range missile launch in time for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party on Oct. 10.