Scud missile and launcher
Scud missile and launcherIsrael news photo: US Navy

North Korea has rejected any plan to hold talks over its nuclear development activities, although it is willing to discuss disarmament of other types of ordnance, it says.

The coy response by Pyongyang to an advance by the United States to negotiate a wind-down of the escalation of hostilities mirrors Iranian strategies played out in the international arena over the past decade.

A South Korean government official reported that the North had moved two more missile launchers to its east coast, possibly in order to test-fire short-range Scud missiles, the Yonhap news agency reported Sunday. Neither battery has the range to reach Israel or the United States, but both can reach South Korea, an ally of the U.S.

“The military is closely watching the latest preparations for a missile launch by the north,” commented a senior South Korean military source.

Two mid-range Musudan missile launchers were already moved into place in early April, and seven other mobile launchers were moved into the same area later in the month, the news agency said.

The nation’s defense ministry declined to respond to the report.