North Korea has begun preparations to fire three or four medium-range missiles, the South Korean military reported to the National Assembly's National Defense Committee on Tuesday. Defense Committee members quoted military officers as saying this when they visited the command post of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They said the North is preparing to fire medium-range missiles near Anbyon-gun, Gangwon Province. The South has detected several vehicle mobile launchers carrying missiles in the area and assumes that the North will fire more than three missiles.

Officers do not rule out that North Korea will launch an intercontinental ballistic missile from a launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province on the west coast at the same time.

The medium-range missiles are most likely of the Rodong type with a range of 1,300 km or a new type with a range of 3,000 to 4,000 km which the North deployed warfare-ready in 2007.

Asked when the long-range missile will likely be launched, an officer speculated it would take about two weeks to prepare its launch. The ICBM would likely be launched in the direction of the East Sea rather than toward the South Sea, the military speculated.