news North Korea launches long-range rocket, defying world pressure

[rwilli1]

North Korea launches long-range rocket, defying world pressure



1 hour, 42 minutes ago





By Jean H. Lee And And And Jae-Soon Chang, The Associated Press


SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea defied international warnings and sent a rocket hurtling over the Pacific on Sunday, a launch President Barack Obama called an illicit test of the regime's long-range missile technology that threatened the security of nations "near and far."

Obama and European Union leaders meeting in Prague condemned the move and said North Korea's defiance demanded an international response.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon issued a statement calling the launch an "ill-advised action (that) undermines confidence in North Korea's commitment to peace and security."

"We strongly urge the North Korean government to live up to its stated desire for positive relations with the international community and to accept the obligations for peaceful and responsible behaviour that are incumbent upon it as a member of the United Nations."

Diplomats at the United Nations scheduled an emergency Security Council session to discuss what Obama called a clear violation of UN resolutions.

South Korea and the U.S. military disputed North Korea's claim of a successful launch into space, saying the rocket fell into the ocean in stages.

"North Korea broke the rules once more by testing a rocket that could be used for a long-range missile," Obama said. "This provocation underscores the need for action."

He said the launch threatened the security of countries "near and far."

North Korea says it successfully sent its "Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite into orbit as part of its peaceful bid to develop a space program. The claim comes just days before North Korea's authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Il, presides over the first session of the country's new parliament in his first major public appearance since reportedly suffering a stroke last August.

The U.S. and South Korea say no satellite or other object reached orbit Sunday, and joined Japan and other countries in accusing the North of using the launch to test the delivery system for its long-range missile technology - a step toward eventually mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.

"North Korea's development of a ballistic missile capability, regardless of the stated purpose of this launch, is aimed at providing it with the ability to threaten countries near and far with weapons of mass destruction," a joint EU-U.S. statement said.

Liftoff took place at 11:30 a.m. from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean and U.S. governments said. The multi-stage rocket hurtled toward the Pacific, reaching Japanese airspace within seven minutes. Warships did not activate interceptors because no debris appeared to hit its territory, officials in Tokyo said.

Four hours after the launch, North Korea declared it a success. An experimental communications satellite reached outer space in just over nine minutes and was orbiting Earth, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said from Pyongyang.

"The satellite is transmitting the melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans 'Song of Gen. Kim Il Sung' and 'Song of Gen. Kim Jong Il' as well as measurement data back to Earth," it said, referring to the country's late founder and his son, its current leader.

But South Korea's defence minister and the U.S. military disputed that account. North American Aerospace Defence Command and U.S. Northern Command officials said in a statement that the first stage of the rocket fell into the waters between Korea and Japan, while the two other stages, and its payload, landed in the Pacific Ocean.

The launch was a bold act of defiance against widespread opposition around the world.

Japanese leader Taro Aso called the launch "an extremely provocative act that cannot be overlooked."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the launch "completely unacceptable."

"It's a breach of international obligations," Brown said. "It will be condemned in every country across the world and they should desist from testing and proliferating nuclear weapons."

China, North Korea's main source of economic aid and diplomatic support, urged all sides to maintain calm and exercise restraint. It offered to play a "constructive role," though some say it could use its veto power to block a unified response to the launch at the Security Council.

Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, also called for calm. "We urge all states concerned to show restraint in judgments and action in the current situation, and to be guided by objective data on the nature of North Korea's launch," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Saying the launch violates Resolution 1718, part of efforts to force North Korea to shelve its nuclear program and halt long-range missile tests, Japan's UN mission immediately requested a meeting of the 15-member Security Council, spokesman Yutaka Arima said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he regretted North Korea's move "against strong international appeal" at a time when the so-called six nation nuclear disarmament talks remain stalled.

"Given the volatility in the region, as well as a stalemate in interaction among the concerned parties, such a launch is not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability," Ban said in a statement from Paris.

North Korea, which says its participation in a UN space treaty protects its right to send a satellite into orbit, took pains to alert international maritime and aviation authorities of the rocket's flight path, in marked contrast to 2006, when it carried out a surprise launch of a similar Taepodong-2 long-range missile that fizzled 42 seconds after takeoff.

"(But) Even if a satellite was launched, we see this as a ballistic missile test," Japan's chief cabinet spokesman Takeo Kawamura said.

[templetonstoy]

I knew there was a reason I kept this photo in my picture file.....It's from a 2006 cover of The Economist (great magazine, btw) right after Kim Jong Il launched another rocket that didn't fare well either.