North Korea to Launch Satellite for Kim's Birthday

[Major Shaitan Singh]

North Korea will launch an earth observation satellite next month to mark the 100th birthday of its late founding leader Kim Il-sung, the state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.

The Unha-3 rocket carrying the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite will lift off from a launch pad in Cholsan, a coastal town in the country's northwest, between April 12 and 16, a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in a statement carried by KCNA.

"[We] will strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage concerning the launch of scientific and technological satellites for peaceful purposes and ensure maximum transparency," the spokesman said.

Kim Il-sung, revered as the Eternal Sun of Mankind in North Korea, ruled the impoverished communist nation for nearly 50 years before dying in 1994. His birthday, April 15, is commemorated as the Day of the Sun. Massive celebrations are planned for the centenary of his birth.

The announcement came just two weeks after Pyongyang agreed to suspend uranium enrichment, as well as nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for 240,000 tons of U.S. food aid.

Next month's launch is an opportunity for "putting the country's technology of space use for peaceful purposes on a higher stage," the spokesman said.

A similar launch in 2009 drew international criticism and led to UN Security Council sanctions. The North claimed the satellite reached orbit but the United States and South Korea said the rocket fell into the Pacific and that the launch was a cover for ballistic missile tests.

 

[longyi]

This satellite launch on his grandfather's, Kim Il Jong, 100th birthday is very crucial for young Kim's credibility in the eyes of international observers and his own people. He must be confident enough for its successful rate.

It will be widely watched.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

North Korea ignores deal with US, announces satellite launch


North Korea ignores deal with US, announces satellite launch
North Korea Times
Friday 16th March, 2012


• Liftoff slated for around April 12-16
• US has called it highly provocative
• US was to deliver 240,000 metric tons of food aid soon

SEOUL - North Korea announced Friday that it is preparing to launch a satellite in April to mark the 100th anniversary of founder Kim Il-Sung's birth, evoking strong reactions from its southern neighbour as well as the US.

Pyongyang has said the launch of the long-range rocket mounted with a satellite is for peaceful purposes.

North Korea's announcement comes just two weeks after it inked a deal with the US agreeing to nuclear concessions including a moratorium on long-range missile tests in exchange for food aid.

The technology employed in shooting a satellite into orbit is similar to that used in a long-range missile test. North Korea had described its two previous tests, in 1998 and 2009, as satellite launches.

The liftoff will take place between April 12-16 from a launch pad in North Phyongan province, a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in a statement.

The satellite has been named Kwangmyongsong, meaning "Bright Star," the same as the 1998 and 2009 satellites.

Voicing its unhappiness, the U.S. State Department termed the announcement of the launch as "highly provocative."

"Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with North Korea's recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

Robert King, U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights, had met North Korean officials in Beijing a week ago to work out the modalities for delivery of 240,000 metric tons of food aid, which was to start soon.

South Korea said the launch would be a "grave provocation" while Japan has urged Pyongyang to "exercise restraint".

Its last satellite launch, in April 2009, had been condemned by the U.N. Security Council as a breach of a resolution forbidding the North from conducting "missile-related activities."

 

[Nothing]

This satellite launch on his grandfather's, Kim Il Jong, 100th birthday is very crucial for young Kim's credibility in the eyes of international observers and his own people. He must be confident enough for its successful rate.

It will be widely watched.

I doubt that ppl of NK ever getting real news about their government's failure and what world is thinking about them as well as US and UN help to fill their belly ..

 

[LiberalAtheist]

satellite my A$$ they're going to launch another reverse engineered missile get sanctioned again and then we will see more North Koreans suffering because of there so called "peoples" leadership.

 

[no_koadsheding_plz]

what the hell there are full 15 days left for april fool,,y this kolaveri

 

[karan21]

loll north korean can launch satellites? whats their space vehicle. i have never heard of any development. nk still can and pakistan cant

 

[Arian]

loll north korean can launch satellites? whats their space vehicle.

Well, at some point they helped us, now it's the time that we compensate their helps and help them with the vehicle

 

[karan21]

Well, at some point they helped us, now it's the time that we compensate their helps and help them with the vehicle

this is really hard to digest for me. a country like nk has a slv and a pretty goood space station and control centre. wow if given chance they can develop.

 

[darkinsky]

Well, at some point they helped us, now it's the time that we compensate their helps and help them with the vehicle

sorry, china is there to help

 

[regular]

Oh! Excellent news from North Korea....Keep it up guyz we very happi for ure successful achievements......

 

[karan21]

Oh! Excellent news from North Korea....Keep it up guyz we very happi for ure successful achievements......

lol what abt ur own? time for pakistan to launch a satellite from ur own soil and ur own slv.

 

[500]

loll north korean can launch satellites? whats their space vehicle. i have never heard of any development. nk still can and pakistan cant

NK made two attempts of launching satellites:

31 August 1998
Paektusan vehicle (Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 satellite)

5 April 2009
Unha-2 vehicle (Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2)

Both launches failed, although NK claimed success. Its possible that both launches were just tests of Ballistic missiles though.

Paektusan is a derative of Taepodong-1 ballistic missile.
Unha-2 is a derative of Taepodong-2 ballistic missile.

Unha-2:

North Korean ballistic missiles:

 

[Arian]

this is really hard to digest for me. a country like nk has a slv and a pretty goood space station and control centre. wow if given chance they can develop.

North Korea might be poor and the North Korean people are definitely poor, but I think the regime is rich enough to pursue its own ambitious plans for its international image.

sorry, china is there to help

Sorry, but China is usually there when there's money. If they had any willingness to give North Korea such a technology they would've done it much before. No global power, especially China, likes to see a nuclear state with functioning ICBMs that can reach anywhere on the world right beside her and it's understandable why.

 

[longyi]

BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday voiced concern over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) plan to launch a satellite in April.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun met with Ji Jae Ryong, DPRK ambassador to China, on Friday to express China's worry over the matter, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Zhang exchanged views with Ji Jae Ryong on China-DPRK ties and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, said the statement.

Zhang said China had taken note of the DPRK's satellite plan as well as the reaction from the international community. China believes it is the common obligation, and in common interests of, all parties concerned to maintain the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia, said the statement.

"We sincerely hope parties concerned stay calm and exercise restraint and avoid escalation of tension that may lead to a more complicated situation," Zhang was quoted as saying.

The DPRK announced earlier in the day it would launch an "earth observation" satellite, or the Kwangmyongsong-3, using a long-range rocket to mark the 100th birthday of late leader Kim Il-Sung.

The satellite would be launched from a station in North Phyongan province between April 12 and 16, the DPRK's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported, citing a spokesman for the Korean

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It seems like North Korea didn't consult the Chinese about the satellite launch. That's highly unusual.