Japan has stepped up patrols near North Korea
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Tokyo has warned North Korea that it may scrap a landmark agreement between the two sides if Pyongyang carries out a ballistic missile test aimed at Japan.
The agreement, known as the Pyongyang Declaration, commits North Korea to an extension of its 1999 moratorium on long-range missile tests in exchange for Japanese aid.
It was signed at an historic summit between the North Korean and Japanese leaders last year.
But since then, Japanese relations with North Korea have been battered by Pyongyang's brinkmanship over its nuclear programme. In January, North Korea threatened to end its 1999 moratorium.
Map shows range of Taepodong 1 missile, flown over Japan in 1998. Range 1,500-2,000 km, payload: 1,000 kg
Evidence that North Korea preparing flight test of Taepodong 2. Range up to 8,000 km (could reach western US)
Other missiles: Scud-B: Range 300 km, payload 1,000 kg
Scud-C: Range 500 km, payload 7600-800 kg
Scud-D (Nodong): Range 1,000-1,300 km, payload: 700-1,000 kg
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North Korea has fired two short-range missiles into the sea separating it from Japan in the last month, and Japanese media have reported that Pyongyang is preparing to test-fire a longer-range ballistic missile that could reach nearly all parts of Japan.
North Korean official media referred to these "rumours" on Tuesday.
Japanese government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda noted that North Korea "still have not crossed the line", stressing that Japan would not tear up the Pyongyang Declaration lightly.
"Once we abrogate it, then we lose a forum for dialogue. Is that good? We have to consider that carefully," he said.
Pyongyang shocked Tokyo when it launched what it called a satellite which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific in 1998.
The DPKR side expressed its will to extend its moratorium on missile tests beyond 2003 in the spirit of the declaration
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Japan said it was a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile. There are concerns that North Korea may now be preparing to test a longer range Taepodong-2 missile, capable of hitting the western United States.
North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, said in a news commentary on Wednesday that it was the country's "sovereign right to go ahead with its missile programme".
There are also fears that North Korea may take advantage of the US' preoccupation with Iraq to pursue its nuclear ambitions.
It has already restarted a key nuclear facility capable of generating plutonium for nuclear weapons.
The US has deployed extra bombers in the Pacific to counter North Korea during any conflict in Iraq. Japan has told Washington it will increase its monitoring of North Korea in the event of a war, Japanese and US sources said on Tuesday.
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CRISIS CHRONOLOGY
16 Oct: US says N Korea admits to a secret nuclear programme
14 Nov: US halts oil shipments to N Korea
22 Dec: N Korea removes monitoring devices at Yongbyon nuclear plant
31 Dec: UN nuclear inspectors forced to leave
10 Jan: N Korea pulls out of anti-nuclear treaty
12 Feb: IAEA refers issue to UN Security Council
27 Feb: US says Yongbyon reactor restarted
March 2: N Korean jets intercept US surveillance plane in international airspace
10 March: N Korea fires second missile into sea
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China has warned the US not to escalate tensions with the unpredictable North.
State media reported on Wednesday that newly appointed President, Hu Jintao, phoned his US counterpart at the weekend to call for dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang as soon as possible.
China is worried that war on the Korean peninsula would result in a mass influx of North Korean refugees across its border, and increased US influence in the region.
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