North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire short-range missiles after banning ships from waters off its northeast coast, a report said Friday.
A vehicle mounted with a missile launcher has been seen moving around for the past two or three days in an eastern coastal area of Hamkyong province, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a government source as saying.
"Judging from an analysis of the movements, the North appears to be preparing to test-launch short-range missiles," the source was quoted as saying.
In Tokyo, Japan's Coast Guard said the communist state was warning ships not to pass through waters within a 130-kilometre (80-mile) radius of the town of Kimchaek.
It said the warning applied to the hours between 10:00 am (0100 GMT) and 6:00 pm until the end of this month.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said Japan was collecting information on the ban. "I am yet to learn the purpose of the warning," he told reporters.
A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul could not confirm the reported vehicle movements.
Several times in recent years, the North has test-fired short-range ground-to-ship or ship-to-ship missiles in either the Yellow Sea or the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
Seoul describes these as part of routine military exercises but they are often staged to coincide with periods of regional tension.
The North on April 5 fired a long-range rocket from Musudan-ri on its east coast. It said it put a satellite into orbit but other countries saw a disguised ballistic missile test.
The UN Security Council censured the launch and tightened sanctions, prompting the North to quit nuclear disarmament talks.
Pyongyang has said it is restarting its nuclear programme and will carry out nuclear and missile tests unless the world body apologises to it.
Kimchaek is around 40 kilometres from Musudan-ri and about the same distance from Kilju district, where the North conducted its first atomic test in 2006.
No preparations have so far been reported for either a second atomic test or the launch of a long-range rocket.
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