United Nations resolutions prohibit North Korean use of ballistic missile technology, and a rocket launch would trigger a spike in military tensions that is likely to count the family reunion among its first victims. Millions of people were separated during the 1950-53 Korean conflict that sealed the division between the two Koreas.
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Kim said South Korea press reports had generated misunderstanding about the hotline and its management, and that Seoul needs to carry out the pledges of the October 4, 2007 Declaration between North and South, which included agreements to promote and expand joint economic, military and family reunion projects, as well as a plan to replace the current armistice with a peace treaty.
However, the agencies could not determine what was on the train, they said. “To date, I am not aware of any detection of train activity to transport a rocket from the munitions factory in Pyongyang’s Sanum neighborhood to the launch site at Tongchang Village”, the authority said.
After the trilateral meeting among the foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan in New York on Tuesday, the top diplomats warned that the North would face stronger worldwide sanctions should it launch additional provocations.
In an unusual public appearance on Wednesday, Ambassador Hyon Hak Bong said the threat of sanctions would not prevent North Korea from launching rockets for what Pyongyang has called “peaceful purposes”, The Guardian reported.
The government plans to implement the kill Chain, a preemptive strike apparatus that detects before the North lauches nuclear and ballistic missiles.
“North Korea has not shown any clear movement toward blasting a long-range missile yet”. If North Korea is planning a launch for the seventieth anniversary of the foundation of its Workers’ Party on October. 10, as a few have predicted, then it would need to begin preparations shortly. There is also consideration for the time it takes for assembly of the rocket.
“The North is continuously developing nuclear weapons and ignores the worldwide community’s warning”, she said.
Officials indicated that artillery such as SCUD and Rodong missiles and 240-millimeter rocket launchers and armored vehicles have been deployed to Mirim Airport in Pyongyang.
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The parade may come in lieu of a long-range missile launch expected for the celebration later this month, with the country showing yet no signs of a missile launch.
