Tensions surrounding North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs heightened on January 6, when Pyongyang announced that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test, triggering a wave of condemnation from the worldwide community.
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She said the move was “a desperate measure” by the North to maintain its regime, and showed Pyongyang was not afraid of United Nations sanctions.
Pyongyang on Tuesday confirmed that it would launch a rocket sometime between February 8-25, which is around the time of the birthday on February 16 of late leader Kim Jong-Il, father of current leader Kim Jong-Un.
FILE – People look at a map of the border area between North and South Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The South, Japan and the United States, however, would also have an opportunity to test new hardware, should the North launch.
The Korea Times quoted an article from Gordon Chang at the Daily Beast, who thought North Korea might soon test an even more formidable weapon: the long-range, solid-fueled, mobile KN-08. Pyongyang has always insisted it has sovereign right to pursue a space program.
“If North Korea proceeds with a long-range missile launch, the worldwide society will ensure [it] pays searing consequences”.
In early 2009, North Korea left negotiations with the U.S., South Korea, Japan, China and Russian Federation.
Other nations in the region counter that a rocket is virtually identical to a long-range ballistic missile and is an example of the dual-use technology that United Nations resolutions specifically ban North Korea from testing.
It urged North Korea to return to talks over its nuclear programme and other issues.
Meanwhile, skepticism is boiling over Beijing’s clout in bringing its defiant neighbor under control, and ensuing its persistent diplomatic and economic shield that critics have long pointed to as a major snag in global efforts to denuclearize North Korea through isolation and sanctions.
Japan has referred to the upcoming launch as a “serious provocation”.
“Looking at past examples, North Korea has conducted nuclear tests and long-range rocket launches as a set”, a South Korean government official said Wednesday. Seoul officials estimated the first stage of the rocket would fall off the west coast of South Korea, more debris would land near the South’s Jeju Island, and the second stage would land off the Philippines’ east coast.
These concealment upgrades include “the construction of an underground railway right up to the launch pad that allows rocket stages to be transported stealthily to the site, possibly from Pyongyang”.
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Last year, American military officials said they believe North Korea can make a nuclear weapon small enough to be placed on a long-range missile.
