North Korea fired a cruise missile into the Sea of Japan on Monday, ratcheting up tensions as it tries to force the United States into nuclear negotiations at a time when Washington’s eyes are firmly on Iraq.The US, which wants to keep the stand-off with Pyongyang from hindering its build-up for possible war with Saddam Hussein, had anticipated the launch, the second in as many weeks, and played down its significance.So had South Korea, after Pyongyang declared a maritime exclusion zone in the Sea of Japan from March 8 to 11.The firing nonetheless caused Seoul’s stock markets to dip, adding to fears voiced by a Seoul private-sector think-tank that a prolonged nuclear crisis and any protracted conflict in Iraq would slash 2003 growth prospects for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. ‘‘The missile was fired around noon today into the Sea of Japan, and we judged it was the same type as was test-fired on February 24,’’ a South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman said by telephone.‘‘We are still trying to find out exactly what type of missile it was,’’ he added. Yonhap news agency quoted a senior official as saying the missile flew about 110 km.The anti-ship missile N Korea fired into the same waters two weeks earlier was thought to be a version of a Chinese Silkworm missile. Last week, a Pentagon official said Washington was ‘‘not overly concerned’’ about the expected repeat launch.Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said: ‘‘We understand this was not a ballistic missile and therefore is not considered a direct threat to Japan.’’But he added: ‘‘We do not think that this is very favourable in light of the rather unstable situation created by North Korea’s nuclear development.’’Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday the US would eventually talk with N Korea about the country’s nuclear ambitions, but reiterated the US view that others in Asia should help bring about an end to the standoff.‘‘I think eventually we will be talking to N Korea, but we’re not going to simply fall into what I believe is a bad practice of saying the only way you can talk to us is directly when it affects other nations in the region,’’ Powell said.Powell told the CNN Late Edition television show a 1994 deal for N Korea to halt its nuclear programme had been the product of direct talks with the North that Pyongyang later set aside in pursuit of other ways to develop nuclear weapons.US National security adviser Condoleezza Rice told ABC’s This Week on Sunday: ‘‘We have to bring the weight of the international community in a multilateral fashion to deal with the N Korea threat.’’China and Russia have resisted US entreaties to pressure North Korea into multilateral talks, but have not ruled them out. Pyongyang insists on bilateral talks with the US and has been underscoring that demand with moves that seem to parallel the US timetable for war with Iraq. (Reuters)
