"If in fact North Korea did launch a long-range missile, it will be a real source of concern to the international community," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

"They haven't done so since 1998. That was the last time they launched a long-range missile," he said.

Japanese officials warned Friday that North Korea might be preparing to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile that could one day be developed to hit the US West Coast.

They were responding to media reports from Tokyo and Seoul that satellite data have shown increased movement by trailers and other vehicles near the Musudan-ri missile test site in northeastern North Korea, facing the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

Pyongyang, which is boycotting nuclear disarmament talks, could fire for the first time a 35-meter (116-foot) Taepodong-2 in the range of 3,500 to 6,000 kilometers (2,200 to 3,750 miles), the officials said.

North Korea is reportedly believed to be developing the missile for a range of up to 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles), which would put the continental United States within striking distance.

McCormack noted that since 1998, North Korea has abided by a moratorium on the launch or testing of long-range missiles.

He warned that any impending launch of such a missile could also violate an agreement reached in September during the now stalled six-nation nuclear talks.

"And we believe that such a launch would also contravene the letter and the spirit of the September 19th, 2005 joint statement which North Korea signed onto," he said.

The nuclear talks, involving North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia and aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive, have been stalled since November, when Washington imposed financial sanctions on Pyongyang for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.

North Korea sought the removal of the sanctions as a precondition for returning to talks but the United States has refused to budge.

North Korea's nuclear program as well as its development of means to deliver potential nuclear weapons were a global concern, McCormack said.

If Pyongyang launched a long range missile, it would expose "North Korea's intentions, what it says about their motivations and what it says about their seriousness about abiding by commitments that they've made," he said.

Japanese and South Korean officials learned about the increased nuclear site activity from US forces based in the two countries, reports said.

North Korea shocked the world in August 1998 by firing a long-range Taepodong-1 missile with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) over Japan into the Pacific Ocean, claiming it was a satellite launch.

It has since carried out a series of tests on smaller-range missiles.

Washington has denounced Pyongyang as a leading global proliferator of missiles and missile technology. The cash-strapped communist state has refused to stop missile exports, a major source of hard currency earnings.

In June last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il told a South Korean envoy he would scrap the missiles once diplomatic ties were established with Washington.

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