SEOUL: A new launch site being built on North Korea's west coast could handle a missile larger than the communist state has previously fired, South Korea's defence chief said Tuesday.

Defence Minister Lee Sang-Hee told parliament the site at Dongchang-ri, 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest of Pyongyang, was 80 per cent completed.

He estimated that it would be capable of launching a bigger missile than the current Taepodong series, or one carrying a satellite, but gave no further details.

Lee in September had confirmed the existence of the new site.

The North has a separate site at Musudan-ri on the east coast which was used to launch a Taepodong-1 missile in 1998 over Japan. It said at the time the aim was to put a satellite into orbit but the move alarmed Japan and other nations.

A Taepodong-2 missile was launched from Musudan-ri in 2006 but US officials said it failed.

South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported last month that the North is developing a solid fuel-propelled ballistic missile, a modified model of the Taepodong-2, with a range of 10,000 kilometres.

The current Taepodong-2 is said to have a range of 6,700 kilometres.

The North conducted a nuclear weapons test in October 2006. It is not known whether it has the technical capacity to fit an atomic warhead to a missile.

In September an independent analyst who has seen imagery of the new Dongchang site said in the United States that it is designed to support a significant flight test programme.

"It is significant because it indicates an intention to develop a capability of developing a reliable ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile)," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.Org, a research group which specialises in security issues.

- AFP/yt