Preventing North Korea from launching a long-range rocket could be the starting point for untying the complicated knot of problems related to North Korea. In diplomatic terms, it was yet another sign of…
Advertisement
Japan has put its military on alert over North Korean plans for a satellite launch, which are being viewed in the region as a long-range missile test.
The government of North Korea has sent a shipping warning to the International Maritime Organization confirming its intention to launch a long-range rocket carrying Earth observation satellite between February 8 and 25.
North Korea also said last month it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb but this was met with scepticism by USA and South Korean officials and nuclear experts.
North Korea has used its nuclear tests to make progress on the miniaturization of a warhead.
However, if North Korea insists on pushing ahead, “there will be no reason for China to persuade other countries to mitigate the sanctions”, Jin said. This suggests that the North is preparing for a space launch in coming weeks, according to 38 North, a North Korea-focused website run by the U.S-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
The degree of sanctions are thought to have been part of discussions, but some say, stopping Pyongyang from its satellite launch, what many may have been hoping for, was not Wu Dawei’s priority.
South Korean and USA officials said a launch would threaten regional security and violate U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the North from engaging in any nuclear and ballistic activities.
A fresh launch poses a dilemma for the global community, which is already divided on how to punish the North for its nuclear test.
Those are exactly the sort of regime-destabilizing steps that China fears, and Beijing, a veto-wielding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council appears to be pushing back.
A number of U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology.
Japan has legitimate concerns about the possibility of North Korea launching a rocket which would fly over Japanese territory, and is ready to shoot it down, Dr. Fred Fleitz, Senior Vice President for Policy and Programs at the Center for Security Policy, told Radio Sputnik.
A key indication would be if or when the North loads fuel into a rocket after erecting it on a launch pad.
The Yomiuri ShimbunThe worldwide community must stand united and ratchet up the pressure on North Korea to deter that nation from advancing its nuclear and missile programs.
Advertisement
Moon also revealed that the South is working with the United States to monitor any launch that takes place north of the border – around 30,000 American military personnel are stationed on the peninsula as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
