Fears of WWIII are growing after North Korea was seen moving what appears to be an intercontinental ballistic missile towards its west coast, in a dramatic escalation of Pyongyang's stand-off with the United States and its allies.
The rocket was seen moving on Monday (local time), and an unidentified intelligence source told Korean media the missile was being moved at night in order to avoid surveillance.
This comes a day after the country conducted its sixth nuclear test - an advanced hydrogen bomb designed to be mounted on its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile.
North Korea has missile launch facilities on its west coast. A west coast launch would bring the rocket closer to being able to strike Japan and the continental US, if fired at the right trajectory.
South Korea's defence ministry was called by parliament on Monday to answer questions about North Korea's sixth and largest nuclear test on Sunday.
It said it was still seeing signs that North Korea planned to stage more ballistic missile launches, possibly including an intercontinental ballistic missile.
"We have continued to see signs of possibly more ballistic missile launches. We also forecast North Korea could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile," said Chang Kyung-soo, a defence ministry official.
Reuters / Newshub.
