SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea could have another long-range missile at a launch site but does not appear close to firing it, South Korea's defense minister told reporters Friday. Also, South Korea said it will delay food and fertilizer shipments to the North, and had turned down a proposal by the North to hold military talks this week. Intelligence shows the North may have moved two long-range Taepodong-2 missiles to the launch site before it test-fired what was believed to be a Taepodong and six other, shorter-range missiles on Wednesday, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told a small group of reporters, the Yonhap news agency said.
The second Taepodong may still be at the site, but Yoon said that current intelligence showed no sign it was near the launch pad itself, Yonhap said.
Meanwhile, a U.S. envoy said after meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing that the United States and China had agreed to work together to restore calm in the region.
Japan helped increase the pressure on the impoverished communist state by announcing it would not provide food aid and was considering restricting agricultural and fisheries trade to the North, which is dependent on international food shipments.
Yoon was quoted by Yonhap as saying there apparently was a technical problem with the North's Taepodongs and that further launches would likely be delayed until the glitch is resolved.
He also said that a North Korean boat that observed the missile launches had left the area—further suggestion that more immminent launches are unlikely.
The Taepodong is designed to be capable of reaching as far the United States, according to U.S. officials. But on Wednesday, what appeared to be a Taepodong broke up less than a minute after takeoff and fell into the sea.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, dispatched to the region in the wake of Wednesday's missile barrage, said China obviously opposed the launches. He said senior Chinese diplomats had told him that Beijing had contacted Pyongyang after the launches, though they did not provide details on what was said.
"They were very clear in their views of the North Korean missile launches, very clear that they have no interest in seeing this happen and do not regard this in anyway positively," Hill said before leaving Beijing for South Korea.
Hill said that he and the Chinese agreed that the two governments must work "to deal with the situation," curb further North Korean provocations and persuade Pyongyang to return to regional negotiations on its nuclear program.
China, which is North Korea's staunchest ally and a source of oil and other economic assistance, is seen as key to getting Pyongyang to halt missile tests and resume stalled negotiations over its nuclear weapons programs.
The U.S. has urged Beijing to use the most leverage possible with North Korea. So far, China's efforts have been mostly limited to diplomatic appeals.
North Korea had proposed Monday that it meet with South Korean officials Friday at the border village of Panmunjom to work on setting up talks between generals aimed at reducing tension along the world's most heavily fortified border.
"Our side judged that it is not an appropriate time," the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday. "We notified the North that we would propose a date at an appropriate time later."
The two sides held their last high-level military talks in May, but failed to produce any agreement because of a dispute over their marine border.
South Korea had been taking a relatively soft approach with Pyongyang, shelving earlier criticism of the missiles and insisting on maintaining ties with the North developed in recent years.
Yonhap quoted Choe Myong Nam, councilor at the North's mission to the U.N. in Geneva, as saying that Wednesday's launches were successful and could be continued, echoing an earlier statement by North Korea's Foreign Ministry.
"It's an unfair logic to say that somebody can do something and others cannot. The same logic applies to nuclear possession," Choe said. The missile launches are "not intended to strike anyone and it's the North position that missile launches could be continued," he said.
South Korea ordered two of its airlines to avoid a flight route near the path of the missiles until July 11.
In Washington, President Bush expressed support for a draft U.N. Security Council resolution, offered by Japan, to sanction North Korea for the launches. China and Russia have shown little interest in sanctions, saying diplomacy remains the only way to resolve the dispute.
