A mock Scud-B missile of North Korea, left, and other South Korean missiles are displayed at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016.
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While North Korea is said to be proceeding with its satellite launch plan despite worldwide pressure, Japan has declared that it is ready to shoot down North Korean missiles.
Pyongyang’s state outlet DPRK Today said Thursday North Korea is an “unrivaled superpower” that has the technology to launch an earth observation satellite, the ability to detonate hydrogen bombs, and is now a major player on the global stage.
According to the spokesman, the communist country is “preparing for a missile launch at the Dongchang-ri site”.
Also of interest: Iranian media report that Iran will launch a Simorgh rocket, similar to North Korea’s Unha, during festivities to mark the Iranian revolution, scheduled to run through February 11.
Some analysts now claim that the renovations on North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station indicate preparations for a rocket more powerful than any that the country has tested so far.
The government of Japan has ordered Aegis ballistic missile defense warships of the Maritime Self-Defense Force and land-based Patriot PAC-3 rocket units to respond should projections show components falling in Japanese territory, a Reuters report stated.
The move added to tensions already heightened after the North’s nuclear test on January 6.
However, the website said it was impossible to tell from the satellite imagery whether a space launch vehicle was present. China, which dispatched a top official to North Korea this week, echoed the worldwide concerns while Japan has vowed to shoot down any missile that threatened its territory.
There are fears that if North Korea goes ahead with the launch, its missile could fly over the Sakishima islands in Okinawa Prefecture. At most, experts say, North Korea tested a “boosted-fission” device that uses an additive to achieve a bigger bang. Pyongyang’s launch announcement came on the day Wu Dawei, China’s special representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs, arrived in North Korea for a visit.
It is disconcerting that although nearly one month has passed since North Korea conducted a nuclear test, the U.N. Security Council has not yet adopted a sanctions resolution.
Park pointed out in the statement that North Korea is “announcing another provocation even while United Nations sanctions are being discussed”, and that it is a way of demonstrating it is not afraid of these measures.
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Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy on Wednesday and agreed that Japan, the United States and South Korea would work together to dissuade North Korea.
