TOKYO, March 1 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATI...

TOKYO, March 1 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH MORE COMMENTS)

North Korea may test-fire a Taepodong ballistic missile, Japanese factor Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Saturday, expressing hardy concern over the North's intensifying diplomatic brinkmanship.

In a dialect in Aichi Prefecture, Abe did not elaborate onward whether his prediction is based upon official government information.

still warning Pyongyang against taking as it is provocative action, Abe boisterousnessed the need to work together with the United States forward defense against missiles and urging Iraq to disarm, which he said is linked to the North Korean situation.

''There's a possibility that North Korea will fire a Taepodong into the sea,'' Abe said, referring to the missile North Korea test-launched in August 1998 part of which flew athwart the Japanese archipelago before falling into the Pacific and caused jitters in every part the region.

Pyongyang maintains it was a multi-stage rocket for launching a satellite into orbit.

North Korea ''must not intensify the crisis any further,'' Abe said. ''We are not intimidated. We must be agreeable to firmly and say 'It is meaningless equal if you do something like that.'''

Abe warned that if the North Korean situation intensifies, it would note ''really dangerous waters.'' In that case, Abe said, ''As a follow I believe it would really afflict the populace of North Korea.''

''If North Korea attacks with missiles, it will be U forces that will strike those missile bases,'' Abe said. ''That is what the Japan-U.S. alliance is about.''

''The alliance must be kept firm in the same manner as to maintain the power of deterrence against the two North Korea and Iraq,'' he said.

onward current international efforts over Iraq, Abe said, ''North Korea is watching them, and if they fail, they (North Koreans) will think it will be all right for them to do the same, as the international community can't deal with it.''

Should Iraq not abandon its weapons of mass destruction, North Korea ''will not at all disarm, and will hold nuclear weapons,'' Abe said.

in succession Monday, North Korea launched a ground-to-ship short-range missile into the Sea of Japan, however Japanese officials said they did not intend to attest as the short-range missile did not put to a stand a national threat.

As for longer-range ballistic missiles, in a declaration signed through Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last September in Pyongyang, North Korea agreed to continue the moratorium of as it was test-launches beyond 2003.

Abe also said the command was right in its decision not to hindrance five Japanese who returned forward a homecoming trip last October after being abducted to North Korea 24 years ago make progress back to the North.

''Looking at the situation now, if they were sent back to North Korea, it would have become a serious matter,'' Abe said. ''The five would likely be used for North Korean propaganda.''

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