The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says he has seen no indication that North Korea will conduct a missile test this weekend, when the U.S. will celebrate its Independence Day.
The Voice of America quoted Admiral Mike Mullen telling reporters on his flight home from Europe Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has given no particular signals that he will order the test this weekend.
However, Mullen was quick to add that Pyongyang did not give indications on every previous test and that North Korea has proven to be fairly unpredictable.
Japanese media said earlier that North Korea is likely to launch a long-range ballistic missile in the direction of Hawaii either on July fourth, to coincide with the American Independence Day, or around July eighth, when the communist state will mark the 15th anniversary of the death of its founder, Kim Il-sung.
The U.S. military has deployed missile defense weaponry to Hawaii in the event North Korea launches a missile toward its Pacific island state.