According to recent reports, North Korea may be
preparing to launch a missile or a satellite.
Satellite images suggest an increased activity around a site known as
Sanumdong, where North Korea assembled most of its ballistic missiles and
rockets.
It comes after reports earlier this week that North Korea’s main rocket
launch site at Sohae had been rebuilt.
Last year, North Korea started to dismantle Sohae began but stopped as US
talks stalled.
On March 8, President Donald Trump said he would be disappointed if North
Korea was to resume weapons testing.
He said: “I would be surprised in
a negative way if he did anything that was not per our understanding. But we’ll
see what happens.
“I would be very disappointed if
I saw testing.”
According to analysts, it is more
likely at this stage that North Korea is preparing to launch a satellite rather
than test a missile.
However, the US said earlier this
week that this would still be inconsistent with the commitments Kim Jong-un has
made to President Trump.
Large vehicles have been seen moving
around Sanumdong, activity which has in the past indicated that Pyongyang was
at least preparing to move some kind of missile or rocket to a launch area.
The satellite images were published
by the public radio network NPR.
A much anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Hanoi last week ended without a deal over differences in how much North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear program before it was granted some sanction relief.
The Sohae launch facility at the Tongchang-ri site has been used for
satellite launches and engine testing but never for ballistic missile launches.
This week’s satellite images, coming from several US think tanks and
testimony from the South Korean intelligence service, appear to show rapid
progress has been made in rebuilding structures on the rocket launch pad.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said North Korea could yet face
more sanctions if there is no progress on denuclearization.
A historic first meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018 in Singapore produced a vaguely worded agreement on “denuclearization” but little progress.
North Korea has launched a long-range rocket, which critics say is a test of banned missile technology.
But according to local media, North Korea had successfully placed a satellite in orbit.
The launch was condemned by Japan, South Korea and the US, who have requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on February 7.
South Korea says it is to begin discussing with the US the deployment of a missile defense system.
Ryu Je-Seung, a senior defense official, said if the THAAD missile system – considered one of the most advanced in the world – were deployed it would be only to counter the threat from the North.
In a statement, the North Korean National Aerospace Development Administration said earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong-4 had entered orbit about 10 minutes after lift-off from the Sohae space centre in North Phyongan province.
Announcing the launch on state TV, a newsreader said it had been ordered by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and said the country planned to launch more satellites in the future.
“The fascinating vapor of Juche satellite trailing in the clear and blue sky in spring of February on the threshold of the Day of the Shining Star,” was how the launch was described.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said a warship had detected the launch at 09:31.
The rocket launch was roundly condemned by the international community. US Secretary of State John Kerry called it a “flagrant violation” of UN resolutions and warned of “significant measures to hold the DPRK [North Korea] to account.”
China said it “regrets” North Korea’s actions but urged “the relevant parties” to “refrain from taking actions that may further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula”.
Contenders for the Republican ticket in the US presidential election this year were asked for their reaction during a debate in New Hampshire.
Donald Trump said China was the key.
“I would get on with China. Let China solve that problem.”
UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from carrying out any nuclear or ballistic missile tests.
South Korean analysts had speculated that North Korea might carry out the launch ahead of February 16, the birthday of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
According to Japan’s government, North Korea will launch the satellite-bearing rocket between February 7 and 14.
Pyongyang previously said the satellite launch would take place between February 8 and 25.
The planned launch has been condemned by world powers, which say it is a cover for testing a ballistic missile.
North Korea did not inform international organizations of any other changes in its plan and the rocket’s expected flight path remains the same, said South Korea’s defense ministry.
South Korea has warned the North that it will “pay a harsh price” if it goes ahead with its plan to launch the satellite.
Japan’s defense minister said he had issued an order to shoot down any missile that threatened to fall on Japanese territory.
South Korean analysts have speculated that North Korea might do the launch ahead of February 16, the birthday of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
North Korea has already provoked international criticism this year with a fourth nuclear bomb test on January 6.
A launch in the coming weeks would constitute another major violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning the state from carrying out any nuclear or ballistic missile tests.
North Korea insists its space program is purely scientific in nature, but the US, South Korea and even ally China say the rocket launches are aimed at developing an inter-continental ballistic missile capable of striking the US.
South Korea warns North Korea it will “pay a harsh price” if it goes ahead with its plan to launch a satellite into space.
North Korea announced on February 2 it intended to carry out the launch between February 8 and 25.
Critics say it is a cover for a test of ballistic missile technology.
Japan’s defense minister said he had issued an order to shoot down any missile that threatened to fall on Japanese territory.
The US has said any North Korean launch would be an “egregious violation” of a UN ban on missile launches by North Korea, and called for more sanctions.
North Korea has always said its space program is peaceful, but it is believed to be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The communist country also conducted its fourth nuclear bomb test on January 6, drawing international condemnation.
Cho Tae-yang, a senior South Korean presidential official, said on February 3 that the satellite plan was considered a “direct challenge to the international community”.
“We warn that if North Korea proceeds with a long-range missile launch, the international society will ensure that the North pays searing consequences for it as the launch would constitute a grave threat to the Korean Peninsula, the region and the world,” he said.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe said the launch plan was a “serious provocation” and that he would work with other countries to “strongly demand” North Korea to stop.
China’s top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei, is currently visiting Pyongyang. A Chinese foreign ministry official told the South Korea news agency Yonhap that he planned to discuss the situation with officials there.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on February 2 that it had been notified of Pyongyang’s plans to launch a satellite.
However, North Korean media do not appear to have reported on the DPRK’s letter to the UN maritime agency so far.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Russel said the planned launch argued “even more strongly” for tougher UN sanctions.
Analysts say a new launch would allow North Korea to test some – but not all – of the technology needed for a long-range nuclear strike.
US officials had said last week that North Korea appeared to be preparing for a rocket launch, citing increased activity around the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, also known as Tongchang-ri.
Analysts say that the recent activity could be a build-up to the seventh Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea due to be held in coming months, the first to be held since 1980, where leader Kim Jong-un is expected to show off North Korea’s nuclear program.
North Korea last conducted a long-range rocket launch in December 2012 successfully putting into orbit an object Pyongyang claimed was a communications satellite with the three-stage Unha-3 carrier.
The UN Security Council subsequently called it a “clear violation” of resolutions banning North Korea from missiles tests, and imposed sanctions.
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