Possibility NK suspend missile plan

It has been claimed that it is the official position of North Korea that if a third country helps it with its space project it will not give up its missile plans, but rather might just suspend them.

Alexandre Ivanof, a councilor of the Russian Embassy in Japan, who had accompanied Russian President Vladimir Putin when he participated in the G-8 Summit held in Yokinawa, Japan, last month, recently stated during an interview with the Chosun Shinbo, the Chocheongryon organization`s newspaper, that Chosun (North Korea) could suspend its independent (missile) development plans if another country helped with its space program.

This has attracted much attention as it is different from what had previously been known -- that if another country launched 2 to 3 satellites a year for North Korea, the country would give up its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

In addition, regarding America`s plans to establish a National Missile Defense (NMD) system, Councilor Ivanof asserted that related countries should shun bias and work toward solutions through negotiations after taking into account the good situation developing on the Chosun peninsula.