The United States was tracking the rocket launch and said it did not believe that it posed a threat to the United States or its allies, defense officials said.
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Under Kim Jong Un, a February 2012 deal for the United States to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid in exchange for a freeze in nuclear and missile activities collapsed after a rocket launch by the North that April. We continue to call on North Korea to refrain from irresponsible provocations….
The test follows a pattern of conducting long-range rocket launches around the time of nuclear tests.
According to a 2015 report on Pyongyang’s space program by 38 North, testing rockets through satellite launches would provide invaluable data for potential future ICBMs.
The rocket was launched on a southward trajectory, as planned, passing over Japan’s southern Okinawa islands, Japan’s NHK news agency reported, and appeared to have successfully separated its first stage booster.
The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting Sunday at 11 a.m. EST on the North Korean launch.
The DPRK launched the rocket at around 9:31 local time on Sunday, according to Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani.
Earlier Sunday, North Korea fired a long-range rocket, defying a UN Security Council resolution banning Pyongyang from launching rockets that may be used as long-range ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
In March 2014, the DPRK launched short-range missiles for two straight days amid continued joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.
The United States has also condemned the action.
Calling the launch a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions on North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology, Kerry reaffirmed “ironclad” US defence commitments to allies Japan and South Korea and called the launch a destabilising and unacceptable challenge to peace and security.
Japan and the USA have requested an emergency U.N. Security Council session to discuss the situation.
She said that the government should take all necessary measures to strengthen the response capabilities under the South Korea-U.S. alliance. If they have only rockets, that’s not that intimidating, either. The nation’s claim the following year that it is capable of building a nuclear missile that can reach the USA has been met with skepticism. The North is thought to have a small arsenal of crude atomic bombs and an impressive array of short- and medium-range missiles.
North Korea put its first satellite into space in 2012 and has since upgraded its launch site on the nation’s northwest coast about 50 kilometers from the Chinese border to accommodate larger rockets.
– June 13, 2009: North Korea says it will start enriching uranium in addition to its plutonium-based program.
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– February 13, 2007: North Korea agrees to disable its main nuclear facilities in return for energy aid and other benefits.
