SEOUL - A North Korean long-range missile has arrived at a launch base in the northwest of the country, reports said Monday, amid signs Pyongyang is preparing to defy international pressure with another test.

A train carried the missile from a factory near Pyongyang to Dongchang-ri in the northwestern county of Cheolsan over the weekend, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, quoting an unnamed intelligence official.

The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported the same information.

Tensions have been running high for the past week after Kim Jong-Il's regime tested a nuclear bomb for the second time, launched a series of short-range missiles and threatened possible attacks on South Korea.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday that North Korea was preparing to launch a long-range missile that may be a modified version of a Taepodong-2, which the North tested in 2006 and in April and which is theoretically capable of reaching Alaska.

--AFP