A North Korean missile launcher has moved into the firing position with rockets facing skyward.
The reports in the Kyodo news agency come as North Koreans celebrate the appointment of their North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un a year ago, and G8 foreign ministers discuss the crisis during a meeting in London.
The Japanese government has been on high alert ahead of the expected test-firing of a medium-range missile by Pyongyang, deploying Patriot missile batteries in Tokyo as a defence measure.
South Korean and US forces in the territory of Guam have announced an upgrade of their surveillance alert status.
Tokyo is “gathering a variety of information … with a sense of tension”, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera was quoted as saying by Kyodo.
Meanwhile, sources have told that the UK ambassador in Pyongyang has held meetings with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials within the past few days. The meetings point to the important diplomatic role that Britain is playing in resolving the crisis.
The source told an “in-place advisor” in Pyongyang was very useful in helping to establish Pyongyang’s intentions.
The US does not have an embassy in the North.
At their meeting in London, foreign ministers of G8 countries – United States, Britain, Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada – are expected to press China to engage with Pyongyang and use its leverage to preserve the peace in that region.
North Korea is believed to have moved at least two Musudan missiles to its eastern coast.
The untested missiles have a range of 3,500km (2,180 miles), and can cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.
According to South Korean intelligence, North Korea has been moving multiple missiles in and out of a warehouse facility in an apparent bid to confuse foreign intelligence agencies.
At least five mobile launch vehicles have also been spotted swapping places and positions, the intelligence analysis cited by Yonhap news agency said.
Missiles have been spotted at the Musudan-ri launch site and also around the town of Wonsan.
Pyongyang has not announced plans to fire a missile, but has delivered increasingly belligerent rhetoric in recent weeks in anger over joint US-South Korean military exercises being conducted in the South through the end of April.
Citing the tensions, Pyongyang has pulled more than 50,000 workers from the Kaesong industrial park it shares with South Korea – the only remaining symbol of economic cooperation between the nations.
It has warned that “thermo-nuclear war” was imminent and urged foreign tourists and diplomats in South Korea to take cover.
However, there has been no sign of diplomats leaving. The European Union said there was no need for member states to evacuate or relocate their diplomatic missions, but it called on North Korea to “refrain from further provocative declarations or action”.
Most observers say Pyongyang has no intention of starting a war that could bring its own destruction. But they have warned of the risks of miscalculation on the highly-militarised Korean peninsula.
North Koreans were celebrating Mr Kim’s appointment to first secretary of the Workers’ Party a year ago.
Mr Kim took up a slew of top titles in the months following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, in December 2011 – highlighting his family’s grip on power in the reclusive nation.
A flower show, art performances and public parties are scheduled over the next few days in the lead-up to the nation’s biggest holiday, the April 15 birthday of its founder Kim Il-Sung, grandfather of the current leader.
The missiles’ upright position on their launchers suggests a test-firing might be imminent, though in the past missiles have sat on their launchers for some days.
A South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman said: “According to our advising group, North Korea uses red fuming nitric acid as its fuel for ballistic missiles, so they can be on standby up to more than two weeks for a lift-off after it is filled with fuel.”
The launch is expected to be a test, aimed at boosting Mr Kim’s credentials at home and his image of a strong leader.
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At one point does a threat in and of itself become so dangerous that world leaders conclude military intervention is necessary? Probably only after the death of hundreds of thousands or even millions of Korean and Japanese men women and children. It is a first, but probably not the last situation where a nation’s leader essentially announces he is about to launch a suicidal war. Yet, the military response to such a threat, whether preemptive or reactive, is seemingly equally suicidal for the people of the two Koreas. One more reason why preventing nuclear proliferation is so important. Thank you Jimmy Carter for negotiating the imbecilically flawed treaty with North Korea that created this mess.