Report: North Korea assembling long-range missile

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea appears to be assembling its most advanced long-range missile and could conduct a test launch this month, a newspaper reported today, amid U.S. and South Korean warnings against disturbing regional stability.

The Taepodong-2 missile has recently been moved to the east coast Musudan-ni missile site, but has not yet been seen near the launch pad, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo reported, citing an unidentified South Korean government official.

"We assume that they are currently assembling the first- and second-stage rockets," the newspaper quoted the official as saying.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities believe that the North could test-fire the missile, believed to be capable of reaching the western U.S., around Feb. 25, the first anniversary of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's inauguration, the paper said.

The National Intelligence Service, Seoul's top spy agency, said it could not confirm the report, citing the sensitivity of intelligence matters.

Seoul and Washington have issued repeated warnings to North Korea over a possible missile launch, with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan saying Thursday that it would "be an act that seriously threatens stability on the Korean peninsula."

The minister said a test launch would isolate the North and trigger punitive measures, citing U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning the country's missile tests in 1998 and 2006.

Earlier in the week, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said the U.S. doesn't want to see "provocative acts on the part of the North that will raise tensions" in the region.

Late last month, Pyongyang declared it would scrap peace accords with South Korea and warned of a war on the divided peninsula.

North Korea's saber-rattling has been interpreted as an attempt to grab President Barack Obama's attention. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to visit South Korea next week.

International disarmament talks on North Korea's nuclear programs have been stalled for months over how to verify the country's past nuclear activities.