North Korea on Tuesday informed global organizations of its plans to launch an Earth observation satellite on a rocket between February 8 and 25, and if North Korea’s past patterns are any clue, angry warnings by its neighbors and Washington probably won’t dissuade a coming launch.
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The North insists its space programme is purely scientific in nature, but the United States and its allies say its rocket launches are aimed at developing an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the USA mainland.
South Korea said the North should immediately call off the launch, which is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, the South’s presidential Blue House said in a statement.
The launch declaration, meant to warn civilians, shipping and aircraft in the area about the rocket and falling debris, follows North Korea’s disputed claim on January 6 to have tested a hydrogen bomb, the country’s fourth nuclear test.
Diplomats from UN Security Council also called for fresh sanctions against North Korea.
“Satellite launches do not give North Korea the opportunity to demonstrate a re-entry vehicle capability, the component of a ballistic missile system that would bring a nuclear warhead back down towards its intended target”, Andrea Berger from the think tank the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said, as noted by BBC News Tuesday.
US officials said last week that North Korea was believed to be making preparations for a test launch of a long-range rocket, after activity at its test site was observed by satellite.
A former South Korean foreign minister, the United Nations chief said North Korea’s announcement was “a deeply troubling development” and offered his help to reduce tensions and facilitate dialogue with Pyongyang.
The UN spokesman recalled that UN resolutions barring North Korea from developing missile technology “are of course worldwide law”. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Lu Kang made the remark while expressing China’s opposition to “relevant countries” escalating tensions during the regular press conference on February 3.
The UN has restricted North Korea’s space agency, adding to existing sanctions banning them from testing missiles.
In May of 2015, North Korea allegedly tested a submarine-launched missile, but those reports were not confirmed by worldwide agencies.
Those locations are expected to be in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula and in the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Philippines, Pyongyang said. “The North tends to do these things in pairs”, he said.
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NHK did not say whether it was a long- or short-range missile.
