WORLD_ North Korea in long-range rocket launch

THE AUSTRALIAN
 
North Korea in long-range rocket launch

THE AUSTRALIAN
February 7, 2016 4:16PM

Photo: Leader Kim Jong Un has overseen two of the North’s four nuclear tests and three long-range rocket tests since taking over after the death of his father, dictator Kim Jong Il, in late 2011

North Korea has defied international warnings and launched a long-range rocket, in a move that has spurred the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting and drawn condemnation from across the world, including from US Secretary of State John Kerry and Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

The rocket was fired from North Korea’s west coast and tracked separately by the United States, Japan and South Korea. At an emergency national security council meeting in Seoul, the country’s president called the firing an “intolerable provocation.”

North Korea said Sunday it had successfully placed a satellite in orbit in an “epochal event” to boost its defence capability, with a rocket launch widely condemned as a ballistic missile test.

A state television announcer said the launch, personally ordered by leader Kim Jong-un, had “successfully put our Earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong 4 ... into orbit.”

The formal statement was read by Ri Chun-Hee, a star presenter known for her bombastic style of announcing major events including last month’s shock nuclear test.

“The complete success made in the Kwangmyongsong-4 lift-off is ... an epochal event in developing the country’s science, technology, economy and defence capability by legitimately exercising the right to use space for independent and peaceful purposes,” Ms Ri said.

The North would continue to push forward its space programme, she said, adding the latest satellite, carrying various measuring and telecommunication devices, was circling the polar orbit at a cycle of 94 minutes and 24 seconds.

“The National Aerospace Development Administration of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) will, in the future, launch more satellites ... true to the great Workers’ Party of Korea’s policy of attaching importance to science and technology,” she said.

The launch came about two hours after an eight-day launch window opened Sunday morning. It follows North Korea’s widely disputed claim last month to have tested a hydrogen bomb.

Washington and its allies will consider it a further provocation and push for more tough sanctions.

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday in New York over North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket, diplomats said.

The closed-door talks were requested by South Korea as well as council members Japan and the United States, which have both denounced the launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

They will begin at 11:00am (US EST).

Tokyo and Washington called the consultations over the launch of a “so-called ‘satellite’ by North Korea in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions,” in a letter to the Venezuela mission, which currently holds the council presidency.

The resolutions bar Pyongyang from any ballistic missile or nuclear activity. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon condemned the launch as “deeply deplorable,” adding he “reiterates his call on the DPRK to halt its provocative actions and return to compliance with its international obligations.”

North Korean rocket and nuclear tests are seen as crucial steps toward the North’s ultimate goal of a nuclear armed long-range missile arsenal. North Korea under leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy meant to collapse Kim’s government.

Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said a South Korean Aegis-equipped destroyer deployed in the sea off the country’s west coast detected the North Korean launch at 9:31am. The rocket’s first stage fell off North Korea’s west coast at 9:32am and the rocket disappeared from South Korean radars at 9:36am off the southwestern coast. There was no reported damage in South Korea. Yonhap news agency and YTN TV in the South earlier reported that the rocket may have failed, but provided no other details. The South Korean government couldn’t immediately confirm the reports and said it was trying to assess what happened with the United States.

The US Strategic Command issued a statement saying it detected and tracked a missile launched on a southern trajectory but it did not pose a threat to the United States or its allies.

The global condemnation began almost immediately.

In a statement, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US strongly condemned the missile launch by the DPRK, labelling a “a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolutions related to the DPRK use of ballistic missile technology.”

“This is the second time in just over a month that the DPRK has chosen to conduct a major provocation, threatening not only the security of the Korean peninsula, but that of the region and the United States as well,” he said.

“We reaffirm our iron-clad commitment to the defense of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan.”

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said the launch was an “intolerable provocation.” She said the North’s efforts to advance its missile capabilities were “all about maintaining the regime” in Pyongyang and criticised the North Korean leadership for ignoring the hardships of ordinary North Koreans.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan “absolutely cannot allow this,” and told reporters at the prime minister’s residence: “We will take action to totally protect the safety and well-being of our people.”

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters in Canberra the government joins the international community in condemning, “North Korea’s provocative, dangerous and destabilising behaviour”.

“North Korea continues to pose a threat to the region and the globe,” she said.

US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said in a statement that “North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs represent serious threats to our interests — including the security of some of our closest allies — and undermine peace and security in the broader region.”

The UN Security Council prohibits North Korea from nuclear and ballistic missile activity. Experts say that ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology.

The January 6 nuclear test has led to another push in the UN to tighten sanctions. North Korea in 2013 also did a nuclear test and then unnerved the international community by orchestrating an escalating campaign of bombast, including threats to fire nuclear missiles at the US and Seoul.

AP, AAP

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