North Korea has placed a long-range missile capable of reaching the US on a launch pad, suggesting that the Stalinist state intends to go ahead with a planned satellite launch in early April.
A US official confirmed to the Financial Times that Pyongyang had erected a Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] at the Musudan-ri launching site in eastern North Korea.
In 2006, North Korea fired a three-stage Taeponong-2, which has the technical range to reach the continental US, but the rocket failed shortly into flight. While Pyongyang insists the pending launch is a satellite, some experts believe they simply want to test the ICBM.