North Korea carries out controversial rocket launch

[Zarvan]

Hong Kong (CNN) -- North Korea surprised the international community Wednesday by launching a long-range rocket just days after suggesting it would be delayed, South Korea's Ministry of Defense said.
"Shortly after the liftoff, Aegis radar system in the Yellow Sea detected the move," a senior military official was quoted by South Korea's semi-official Yonhap press agency as saying. Yonhap added that President Lee Myung-bak has convened an emergency security meeting in Seoul.
The Japanese government confirmed to CNN by phone that it took place at 9.49 a.m. local time and passed over the island of Okinawa, though no action was taken to shoot it down. It said parts of the three-stage rocket came down in the sea off the Korean Peninsula, with another part dropping into the sea near the Philippines.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters at a press conference in Tokyo that Japan had demanded restraint from Pyongyang and that "it is extremely regrettable that North Korea forced the launch despite our protest. It is not acceptable and we strongly protest against it."
North Korea fires long-range rocket Millions spent to honor Kim Jong Il
Wednesday's news comes as a surprise after North Korea announced Monday that it was extending the launch window into late December, citing technical issues in an engine. On Tuesday, satellite images purportedly showed the rocket being moved from the launch pad, Yonhap said.
The test has been widely condemned by other countries like the United States and South Korea, which say it is a cover for testing ballistic missile technology. The North insists the launch is aimed at putting a scientific satellite into orbit.
When it announced its plans on December 1, the reclusive North Korean regime said it intended to carry out the launch between Monday and December 22. But on Saturday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the launch could be delayed.
In a new article Monday, KCNA reported that scientists and technicians had "found technical deficiency in the first-stage control engine module of the rocket," citing a spokesman for the Korean Committee of Space Technology.
Previous launch attempts by the North in 2006 and 2009 also failed to achieve their stated goal of putting a satellite into orbit and provoked international condemnation.
Pyongyang has said the planned rocket launch would be "true to the behests" of Kim Jong Il, the late North Korean leader and father of Kim Jong Un, head of the ruling regime.
Kim Jong Il died on December 17 last year, so the first anniversary of his death falls within the launch window that North Korea has announced.
Experts also speculate that Pyongyang wants this launch to happen before the end of 2012, the year that marks the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of Kim Jong Un.
CNN's Jethro Mullen, K.J. Kwon and Junko Ogura contributed to this report.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/11/world/asia/north-korea-rocket-launch/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

North Korean rocket launch succeeds

North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Wednesday morning, defying international pressure to abandon what many see as a test of its ballistic missile capability and risking fresh sanctions.

Reports said the three-stage Unha rocket appeared to have followed its expected trajectory. Japan said the first stage had splashed down in the Yellow Sea west of South Korea and the second landed in the sea east of the Philippines.

North Korea's state news agency, the KCNA, said the country had successfully launched a rocket carrying a satellite. There was no immediate independent confirmation that a satellite had made it into orbit.

The launch from the Donchang-ri site in North Pyongan province at 9.49am local time took the world by surprise. Speculation had mounted that it would be delayed by at least several days while North Korean engineers fixed what had been described as a "technical deficiency" in the rocket's first-stage control engine module.

Daniel Pinkston, deputy project director of the North East Asia programme at the International Crisis Group, said the early launch suggested there had either been a misperception along the way or a deliberate operation to mislead observers.

But Pinkston said no one should be surprised by the North's decision to fire another rocket. "It would be absolutely illogical for them not to do it," he said.

"They have invested tremendous amounts of resources in this over decades. They want to possess the capabilities: this is dual use technology with both military and peaceful applications. They are supposed to be a strong and prosperous and powerful country ... this is what you do."

North Korea said recently it had extended the original 13-day launch window by a week until 29 December. On Tuesday satellite images suggested that the entire rocket had been emptied of fuel and removed from its launchpad.

The apparently successful launch will have bolstered the credentials of the North's 29-year-old leader, Kim Jong-un, who was anointed just under a year ago after the death on 17 December 2011 of his father, Kim Jong-il. Reports from North Korea had said the latest rocket launch would proceed "at the behest" of the late dictator.

Wednesday's move follows four previous unsuccessful attempts to put satellites in space using long-range rockets that cast doubt on North Korean claims it had dramatically improved its technological know-how.

The most recent attempt came on 13 April – two days before the centennial of the birth of the country's founder and Kim Jong-un's grandfather, Kim Il-sung – when another three-stage rocket disintegrated less than two minutes after lift-off. In an unusual show of candour the regime quickly admitted that the launch had been a failure.

John Delury, of Yonsei University in Seoul, suggested the North felt it had to go ahead with the latest launch after the humiliating failure in April. "They couldn't even try to spin that as a partial success," he said. "They set it up as a big moment to celebrate the centenary of Kim Il-sung, a major celebration, and completely failed – and they openly admitted it. I think domestic legitimacy is the primary thing."

North Korea watchers agreed that Wednesday's launch appeared to have been successful. "If the initial reports of the launch are correct, the rocket appears to have followed closely the path originally announced by North Korea," said Martyn Williams of the North Korea Tech blog.

Williams, who has been following preparations for the launch via satellite images, said: "That alone makes it more successful than April's launch attempt. If it actually makes it into space and releases a working satellite, it will be a major moment in the country's history and a huge propaganda success for the North Korean regime."

The South Korean military detected the rocket as soon as it was airborne, according to the South's Yonhap news agency. "Shortly after liftoff an Aegis radar system in the Yellow Sea detected the move," a military official was quoted as saying.

The US, Japan and South Korea had applied pressure on the North Korean regime to abandon the launch, saying it violated UN security council resolutions banning it from using ballistic missile technology and would invite further sanctions. The UN security council imposed tough sanctions after the North conducted nuclear weapons tests in 2006 and 2009.

China, the regime's only major diplomatic ally and chief benefactor, voiced "deep concern" but is expected to oppose further sanctions. Japan on Wednesday requested an emergency meeting of the UN body to discuss its response.

Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, said: "I strongly condemn the satellite launch today." The UK government would summon the North Korean ambassador in London, he said. "This provocative act will increase tensions in the region. I deplore the fact that [North Korea] has chosen to prioritise this launch over improving the livelihoods of its people.

"It is essential that [North Korea] refrain from further provocative action and take constructive steps towards denuclearisation and lasting peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."

Pinkston said that while the US and others would take the issue to the security council, he thought a presidential statement was a more likely outcome than a fresh resolution.

China might sign up to a presidential statement and criticise the North in private but Pinkston said he was sceptical about whether they would take action "that really raises the costs" for North Korea.

The North has frequently dismissed accusations that it uses rocket launches as a cover to test its ballistic missile technology which, if perfected, could give the regime a projectile capable of reaching the US mainland.

North Korea is believed to possess several rudimentary nuclear weapons, although experts say it has yet to develop a warhead small enough to mount on a missile.

North Korea insists the rocket launch was intended to send an Earth observation satellite into orbit. Two hours after Wednesday's launch no reliable information was immediately available on the fate of the satellite.

The anticipated launch had raised anxiety levels in the region, days before both Japan and South Korea elect new leaders and weeks after China completed its once-in-a-decade leadership change.

Japan had positioned missile defence systems on the southern island of Okinawa but reported that no debris had fallen on to its territory.

South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, convened an emergency security meeting. The country had positioned three Aegis warships equipped with SPY-1 radar off its western and southern coasts to track the rocket's path.

North Korean rocket launch succeeds | World news | guardian.co.uk

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At least they are smarter than their retarded southern brothers.

 

[Methu_Xie]

Japanese&South Korean: Dad,dad,why the Missile defense system ,that you sold to me ,didn't work !!!!

 

[Viet]

:Japanese&South Korean: Dad,dad,why the Missile defense system ,that you sold to me ,didn't work !!!!

The missile did not head to Soul or Tokio, nor it posed any danger to S Korea or Japan. There was no need to shoot it down. It shows how desperately N Korea is.

 

[kawaraj]

Thanks to Hilary and Barack for their "returning asia" move. Now this rogue small nation can nuke US west coast.

 

[Methu_Xie]

The missile did not head to Soul or Tokio, nor it posed any danger to S Korea or Japan. There was no need to shoot it down. It shows how desperately N Korea is.

You don't know that the Japanese declared they will shoot down the rocket against it falls down in Japan?

 

[Viet]

You don't know that the Japanese declared they will shoot down the rocket against it falls down in Japan?

Yeh, the missile flew over Japan as per article.

it took place at 9.49 a.m. local time and passed over the island of Okinawa, though no action was taken to shoot it down. It said parts of the three-stage rocket came down in the sea off the Korean Peninsula, with another part dropping into the sea near the Philippines.