North Korea said likely to have fueled missile

WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) North Korea is believed to have completed fueling a long-range ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States, raising the likelihood that it will soon conduct a test launch, US officials said.

The United States plans to join Japan in a sharp response if the test goes forward. Washington warned Pyongyang against the test in a message passed on Friday through North Korean diplomats at the United Nations, but there was no response, US officials told Reuters yesterday.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said Pyongyang could decide to scrap the launch. But they said that was increasingly unlikely given the complexity of siphoning fuel out of a missile once it has been fueled.

The launch is expected to involve a Taepodong 2 intercontinental ballistic missile with an estimated range of 3,500 to 4,300 km that could hit the United States.

Pyongyang stunned the world in August 1998 by firing a Taepodong 1 over Japan that landed in the Pacific Ocean.

REUTERS PDS RAI0621