Tokyo, Mar. 26 : The North Korean Government is likely to use the two American journalists it has detained as bargaining chips in its feuds with the outside world, analysts and politicians in South Korea have claimed.

No matter what charges are made against the journalists, North Korea will probably use them -- and the timing of their release -- as leverage in negotiations with the United States and other countries over aid, nuclear weapons and, most urgently, the planned test launch in early April of a long-range missile, several analysts said.

Washington  - North Korea is loading a Taepodong missile onto a launch pad ahead of what Pyongyang said is a plan to place a satellite into space, a US official confirmed.

"It is out there," the counter-proliferation official said Wednesday. "It's the latest indication the North Koreans are moving forward with their announced plans to launch."

The official confirmed earlier Japanese media reports that the rocket was being moved onto the launch pad for North Korea's announced April 4-8 launch.

Washington - North Korea is loading a Taepodong rocket onto a launch pad ahead of what Pyongyang says is a plan to place a satellite into space, a US official confirmed Wednesday.

"It is out there," the counter-proliferation official said. "It's the latest indication the North Koreans are moving forward with their announced plans to launch."

The official confirmed earlier Japanese media reports that the rocket was being moved onto the lift-off pad for North Korea's announced April 4-8 launch.

Seoul  - North Korea warned Tuesday that talks on ending its nuclear weapons programme would break down if the United Nations imposes sanctions on it for a rocket launch it plans next month.

The Foreign Ministry in Pyongyang would see such sanctions as "hostile activity" and "a breach" of a 2005 six-nation agreement in which North Korea promised to dismantle its nuclear programme in return for aid.

Seoul - North Korea warned Tuesday that talks on ending its nuclear weapons programme would break down if the United Nations imposes sanctions on it for a rocket launch it plans next month.

The Foreign Ministry in Pyongyang would see such sanctions as "hostile activity" and "a breach" of a 2005 six-nation agreement in which North Korea promised to dismantle its nuclear programme in return for aid.

Seoul - Two US reporters detained by North Korean border guards might be charged with espionage, a South Korean newspaper reported Tuesday.

The two women were taken to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, for questioning a day after their March 17 arrests on the Chinese-North Korean border, YoongAng Ilbo reported.