Russian legislator says North Korea may test longer missile soon

By AP

Published : Oct 7, 2017 - 10:59 Updated : Oct 7, 2017 - 23:56

A Russian lawmaker says that he and colleagues who recently visited Pyongyang were shown North Korean calculations indicating that their missiles could reach the US West Coast.

Anton Morozov of the nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party said in remarks carried by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Friday that North Korea is preparing to test-fire a long-range missile ``in the nearest future.''

A North Korean intermediate range ballistic missile is seen taking off in a photograph released by Pyongyang`s state-run media on Sept. 16. Yonhap

Morozov, who visited North Korea with two fellow lawmakers earlier this week, said that their interlocutors told them that Pyongyang has the technology that would allow missile warheads to survive the heat while entering the atmosphere.

He said North Koreans also showed them ``mathematical calculations which they say prove that their missile is capable of reaching the US West Coast.'' (AP)