Japanese intelligence sources have no information on reported preparations by North Korea for another launch of its Taepodong-1 ballistic missile, Defense Agency Director General Hosei Norota said Tuesday.
The new defense chief did not substantiate reports by a South Korean newspaper that said intelligence authorities in South Korea, the United States and Japan have confirmed that a truck that left a missile production factory Nov. 3 in Pyongyang had arrived at a missile launch site in Musudan, 400 km northeast of the capital.
The report quotes the intelligence sources as saying that they suspect two Taepodong-1 intermediate-range ballistic missiles were aboard the truck.
According to the report, the sources also said the injection of fuel into the missiles is already under way and a launch is likely by the end of this month or early next month -- taking into account that the fuel injection process usually takes three to five weeks.
Norota said the agency has received no such information from the U.S. side, either.