“The proportion of the long-range missile’s diameter and length is 2.4 to 30, the same [as the previous rocket]”, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, referring to a Unha-3 rocket that the North previously launched in December of 2012.
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The sanctions will include expanded restrictions on travel between the two countries and a complete ban on visits by North Korean ships to Japanese ports, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference.
“If it can perform any sort of manoeuvre using an onboard propulsion system that would be a bigger step forward”, he said, “(and) radio signals from the satellite would mark critical progress for North Korea in another area, particularly if they occur over a prolonged period and show signs of two-way communication”.
North Korea’s newly launched satellite, the first since 2012, is now in a stable orbit after having previously been tumbling out of control.
“It appears that such funds have not been used to pave the way to peace as the global community had hoped, but rather to upgrade its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles”, he said at the televised briefing.
The DPRK launched a rocket on Sunday to deliver an observation satellite into orbit after testing what it claimed was its first H-bomb on January 6.
“Sino-North Korea relations have already experienced many ups and downs, and the latest provocations may not seriously impact the relations”, said Yang Gab-yong, the head researcher of the Institute of China Studies at Sungkyunkwan University.
Clapper, the USA intelligence chief, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that North Korea had been operating its reactor long enough that it could begin to recover plutonium “within a matter of weeks to months”.
“The South Korean military is on high alert, beefing up surveillance near the NLL and monitoring any abnormal activities by North Korean soldiers”, the official said.
North Korea has been increasing its efforts to draw in tourists despite its growing tantrums and threats; it at one point even rolled out a less restrictive 3G network for foreigners, though it was later taken down for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.
The US insists that the defence system is a deterrent necessitated by the North’s advancing ballistic missile programme.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) watches the rocket launch into space.
The move to close the park is the second major measure taken by South Korea in reaction to the launch.
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According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, Pyongyang is believed to possess a long-range missile with a maximum range of 12,000 kilometers and the capacity to carry a payload weighing about 250 kilograms.
