North Korea announces December rocket launch
Source: Agencies |
December 2, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NORTH Korea announced yesterday that it would attempt to launch a long-range rocket in the middle of this month, a defiant move just eight months after a failed April bid was widely condemned as a violation of a United Nations ban against developing its nuclear and missile programs.
The launch, set for between December 10 and 22, is set to worsen already strained relations with Washington and Seoul as the United States prepares for Barack Obama's second term as president and South Korea holds presidential election on December 19.
This 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 announcement by North Korea's space agency followed speculation overseas about stepped-up activity at North Korea's west coast launch pad captured in satellite imagery.
A spokesman for North Korea's Korean Committee for Space Technology said scientists have "analyzed the mistakes" made in the failed April launch and improved the precision of its Unha rocket and Kwangmyongsong satellite, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
KCNA said the launch was a request of late leader Kim Jong Il, the anniversary of whose death in December 17 last year North Koreans are expected to mark with some fanfare. The space agency said the rocket would be mounted with a polar-orbiting satellite, and maintained its right to develop a peaceful space program.
Washington considers North Korea's rocket launches to be covers for tests of technology for long-range missiles designed to strike the US and such tests are banned by the UN.
North Korea has capable short- and medium-range missiles, but long-range launches in 1998, 2006, 2009 and in April this year ended in failure. It is not known to have succeeded in mounting an atomic bomb on a missile but is believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen bombs, according to US experts.
In Seoul, South Korean officials have accused North Korea of trying to influence its presidential election with what they consider provocations meant to put pressure on voters and on the US as the North seeks concessions.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
The launch, set for between December 10 and 22, is set to worsen already strained relations with Washington and Seoul as the United States prepares for Barack Obama's second term as president and South Korea holds presidential election on December 19.
This 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 announcement by North Korea's space agency followed speculation overseas about stepped-up activity at North Korea's west coast launch pad captured in satellite imagery.
A spokesman for North Korea's Korean Committee for Space Technology said scientists have "analyzed the mistakes" made in the failed April launch and improved the precision of its Unha rocket and Kwangmyongsong satellite, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
KCNA said the launch was a request of late leader Kim Jong Il, the anniversary of whose death in December 17 last year North Koreans are expected to mark with some fanfare. The space agency said the rocket would be mounted with a polar-orbiting satellite, and maintained its right to develop a peaceful space program.
Washington considers North Korea's rocket launches to be covers for tests of technology for long-range missiles designed to strike the US and such tests are banned by the UN.
North Korea has capable short- and medium-range missiles, but long-range launches in 1998, 2006, 2009 and in April this year ended in failure. It is not known to have succeeded in mounting an atomic bomb on a missile but is believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen bombs, according to US experts.
In Seoul, South Korean officials have accused North Korea of trying to influence its presidential election with what they consider provocations meant to put pressure on voters and on the US as the North seeks concessions.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
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