SEOUL, South Korea - The South Korean intelligence reports are ominous: North Korea appears to be preparing to test-launch a ballistic missile with sufficient range to strike Alaska and possibly the U.S. West Coast.
A train transporting a large cylindrical object was recently spotted by a U.S. surveillance satellite chugging toward a new launch site west of Pyongyang, a South Korean government source said recently.
Allegedly onboard was North Korea's most advanced missile, a Taepo-Dong 2, being readied for a potential liftoff within two months.
The test launch would reportedly be aimed in the direction of Japan, but some analysts say the menacing gesture is also directed at one American in particular.
"The missile is pointing at Obama," said Baek Seung Joo, a director at the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis. "North Korea thinks that with such gestures they can control U.S. foreign policy."
For months, the secretive state has ratcheted up its rhetoric, threats that have mostly been aimed at the administration of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.
The North has vowed to abandon all peace agreements and said it would not respect a disputed sea border with South Korea. It also accused South Korea of preparing to wage war, claiming that it has adopted an "all-out confrontation posture."
"There is neither a way to improve [relations] nor hope to bring them on track," Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea announced.
While deciphering the motives of North Korea's often-contradictory foreign policy is difficult, analysts consider the moves to be part of a strategy to bring concessions from Seoul and Washington.
Stymied by a widespread hunger and a potential leadership vacuum after longtime leader Kim Jong Il's rumored stroke, North Korea might be hoping to convince South Korea to step up desperately needed financial aid while looking for more straightforward diplomatic signals from the Obama administration.
Since taking office last February, Lee has made it clear that South Korea would withhold aid unless Pyongyang becomes more forthright in its dealings.
The reception in Washington has been equally chilly. U.S. officials rejected an offer by North Korea to send an emissary to last month's inauguration of President Barack Obama.
And although Pyongyang publicly stated at New Year's that it would keep an open mind toward U.S. relations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not scheduled to visit Pyongyang on her mid-February Asian swing that is to include Seoul.
