Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Torricelli says N. Korea will likely launch test missile despite warning

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Tuesday, July 13, 1999

Torricelli says N. Korea will likely launch test missile despite warning

Associated Press

   BEIJING - North Korea appears ready to fire a test missile in the next two months despite warnings that the launch would destabilize northeast Asia and damage improving relations with the United States, a U.S. senator said Monday.
   In another disappointing development, the communist nation refused to release a Korean-American businesswoman jailed last month, said Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., returning from a 36-hour visit.
   After meeting North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan, Torricelli said he left the country Sunday discouraged and convinced that the communist government is intent on firing a multi-stage rocket.
   The senator refused to give details of Kim's responses in their discussions about a missile launch.
   Firing another rocket would be "an act of extraordinary consequences" that would change the dynamics of North Korea's relations with Washington and Japan, and perhaps even China, its one ally, Torricelli said.
   U.S. policy options, however, appear limited.
   Torricelli said Washington would freeze an offer of full diplomatic ties and an end to economic sanctions in return for North Korea's giving up the development and sale of missiles.

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