North Korea conducting improvement work at missile launch site: sources

North Korea is carrying out improvement work on its missile launch site in Musudan-ri in the country's northeast, multiple diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

There is a possibility that a large-scale launch pad is being newly constructed, according to the sources.

While there have been reports that the facility at Musudan-ri is getting obsolete, fears have arisen that North Korea will launch long-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.

In light of North Korea's declaration that as part of its "space development" future launches will include a geostationary satellite, U.S. and South Korean defense authorities have intensified surveillance.

One of the diplomatic sources said that the construction is still in the early stages, so no definite conclusion can be drawn but it is possible it is a launch pad for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

According to the sources, it has been ascertained that North Korea conducted several engine combustion tests for a long-range ballistic missile at Musudan-ri from the end of last year. However, at the current stage there are no signs that Pyongyang will soon launch a long-range ballistic missile.

North Korea test-fired two long-range missiles, in 1998 and 2009, from the Musudan-ri launch site toward the Pacific Ocean. The missiles overflew northern Japan and plunged into the Pacific.

On April 13, North Korea launched a long-range rocket carrying what it said was a satellite from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, about 50 kilometers south of the northern border with China. The rocket fell apart in the air soon after the liftoff, and Pyongyang acknowledged that the launch was a failure.

Jang Myong Jin, general manager of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, told foreign media invited to tour the facility shortly before the launch that there is a "specific plan for a satellite launch" at the "East Sea satellite launch site" of Musudan-ri.

A geostationary satellite is typically launched toward the east, so the site at Tongchang-ri could not be used since there is land to the east of it where the first stage of the rocket would fall.

For this reason, there is a possibility that North Korea will launch a long-range ballistic missile under the guise of a geostationary satellite from Musudan-ri.