China concerned at North Korea's rocket launch plan
Source: Agencies |
December 3, 2012, Monday
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CHINA has expressed concern over North Korea's plans to launch a long-range rocket later this month.
North Korea announced that it would carry out its second rocket launch of 2012, a move South Korea and the United States swiftly condemned as a provocation.
All sides should work for stability and avoid acts that raise tensions, China's Foreign Ministry said yesterday in a statement. It acknowledged North Korea's right to the peaceful use of outer space, but said that had to be harmonized with restrictions including those set by the United Nations Security Council.
"We hope all relevant parties will do that which benefits peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, hope all sides will respond calmly and avoid exacerbating the situation," ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.
The launch, set for sometime between December 10 and 22, would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power following his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago. The first launch some eight months ago ended in a misfire.
In Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the launch plan as a provocative threat to the Asia-Pacific region that would violate UN resolutions imposed on North Korea after past missile tests.
"A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region," she said in a written statement.
North Korea has notified its neighbors of the proposed flight path, an unnamed South Korean official told Yonhap news agency, saying that it would take a similar path to April's failed launch.
That was supposed to take the rocket over seas separating China and the Korean Peninsula where the first stage of the rocket would drop into the sea, then to pass over Okinawa in Japan. The second stage was to fall in seas off the Philippines.
Pentagon spokesman George Little said: "North Korea must abide by its international obligations under UN Security Council resolutions that clearly articulate what it can and cannot do with respect to missile technologies."
South Korea's foreign ministry called the move a "grave provocation."
Japan's Kyodo news agency said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had ordered ministries to be on alert for the launch.
North Korea is banned from conducting missile or nuclear-related activities under UN resolutions imposed after earlier tests. The country says its rockets are used to put satellites into orbit for peaceful purposes.
Washington and Seoul believe North Korea is testing long-range missile technology with the aim of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
North Korea's space agency said on Saturday that it had worked on "improving the reliability and precision of the satellite and carrier rocket" since April's launch.
North Korea says the rocket will be mounted with a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite.
North Korea announced that it would carry out its second rocket launch of 2012, a move South Korea and the United States swiftly condemned as a provocation.
All sides should work for stability and avoid acts that raise tensions, China's Foreign Ministry said yesterday in a statement. It acknowledged North Korea's right to the peaceful use of outer space, but said that had to be harmonized with restrictions including those set by the United Nations Security Council.
"We hope all relevant parties will do that which benefits peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, hope all sides will respond calmly and avoid exacerbating the situation," ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.
The launch, set for sometime between December 10 and 22, would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power following his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago. The first launch some eight months ago ended in a misfire.
In Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the launch plan as a provocative threat to the Asia-Pacific region that would violate UN resolutions imposed on North Korea after past missile tests.
"A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region," she said in a written statement.
North Korea has notified its neighbors of the proposed flight path, an unnamed South Korean official told Yonhap news agency, saying that it would take a similar path to April's failed launch.
That was supposed to take the rocket over seas separating China and the Korean Peninsula where the first stage of the rocket would drop into the sea, then to pass over Okinawa in Japan. The second stage was to fall in seas off the Philippines.
Pentagon spokesman George Little said: "North Korea must abide by its international obligations under UN Security Council resolutions that clearly articulate what it can and cannot do with respect to missile technologies."
South Korea's foreign ministry called the move a "grave provocation."
Japan's Kyodo news agency said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had ordered ministries to be on alert for the launch.
North Korea is banned from conducting missile or nuclear-related activities under UN resolutions imposed after earlier tests. The country says its rockets are used to put satellites into orbit for peaceful purposes.
Washington and Seoul believe North Korea is testing long-range missile technology with the aim of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
North Korea's space agency said on Saturday that it had worked on "improving the reliability and precision of the satellite and carrier rocket" since April's launch.
North Korea says the rocket will be mounted with a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite.
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