North Korea Set to Launch Ballistic Missle

Is it all about the "satellite" launch and the weapons talks, is that why American journalists are being held hostage by the North Korean government while we dither.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea has positioned what is believed to be a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile on its launch pad at a site in the east of the country, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.

U.S. officials would not confirm the report but did not dispute it. Kyodo, citing "sources close to Japan-U.S. relations," said the missile had been placed at Musudan-ri, a site that has been used for previous missile tests.

"I'm not going to steer you away from what's been reported," a U.S. counter-proliferation official told Reuters.

Another U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea had stacked together two stages of what is expected to be a three-stage rocket.

North Korea has said it would launch a satellite between April 4-8. Regional powers see the launch as a disguised test of its longest-range missile and a violation of U.N. sanctions forbidding the reclusive state from firing ballistic missiles.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea has positioned what is believed to be a long-range ballistic missile on its launch pad, a U.S. counter-proliferation official said on Wednesday.The official confirmed a Japanese media report.

The Taepo Dong 2 missile could launch either a warhead or a satellite, the official said.