N Korea launches rocket defying world pressure
Monday, 6 April 2009
SEOUL, April 5 (AP): North Korea fired a rocket over Japan Sunday, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect the launch was cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. President Barack Obama warned the move would further isolate the communist nation.
Liftoff took place at 11:30 am (0230 GMT) from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean and US governments said. The multistage rocket hurtled toward the Pacific, reaching Japanese airspace within seven minutes, but no debris appeared to hit its territory, officials in Tokyo said.
Four hours after the launch, North Korea declared it a success. An experimental communications satellite reached outer space in just over nine minutes and is orbiting, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch from Pyongyang.
"The satellite is transmitting the melodies 'Song of Gen Kim Il Sung' and 'Song of Gen Kim Jong Il' as well as measurement data back to Earth," it said, referring to the country's late founder and his son, its current leader.
Sunday's move was a bold act of defiance against Obama, Japanese leader Taro Aso, Hu Jintao of China and others who pressed Pyongyang in the days leading up to liftoff to cancel a launch they said would threaten peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
"North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint and further isolated itself from the community of nations," Obama said in Prague, urging Pyongyang to honour the UN resolutions and to refrain from further "provocative" actions.
China, Pyongyang's biggest source of economic aid and diplomatic support, urged all sides to maintain calm and exercise restraint. It offered to play a "constructive role," though some fear it could use its veto power to block a unified response to the launch at the Security Council.
North Korea says the launch of the "Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite was a peaceful bid to develop its space programme.
But the US, South Korea, Japan and others suspect the launch was a guise for testing the regime's long-range missile technology - a worrying step toward eventually mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.
They contend it violates a UN Security Council resolution barring the regime from ballistic missile activity, part of efforts to force North Korea to shelve its nuclear programme and halt long-range missile tests.
State Department spokesman Fred Lash called the launch a clear violation of Resolution 1718, adopted five days after North Korea carried out a nuclear weapons test in 2006. The U.S. will "take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it cannot threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity," he said in Washington after the launch.
Japan's UN mission immediately requested a meeting of the 15-nation council Sunday, spokesman Yutaka Arima said. Mexico, which holds the 15-nation council's president this month, set the meeting for 3 pm EDT (1900 GMT), spokesman Marco Morales said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he regretted North Korea's move "against strong international appeal" at a time when nuclear disarmament talks involving six nations remain stalled.
"Given the volatility in the region, as well as a stalemate in interaction among the concerned parties, such a launch is not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability," Ban said in a statement from Paris.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council approved an emergency session Sunday to deal with North Korea's rocket launch.
That approval came after Japan submitted a formal letter requested an emergency session of the United Nations council that handles threats to international peace and security.
"We received a letter and there will be a meeting," Morales said.
Yutaka Arima, a spokesman for Japan's UN mission, said his nation asked for the meeting within minutes of the launch.
Liftoff took place at 11:30 am (0230 GMT) from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean and US governments said. The multistage rocket hurtled toward the Pacific, reaching Japanese airspace within seven minutes, but no debris appeared to hit its territory, officials in Tokyo said.
Four hours after the launch, North Korea declared it a success. An experimental communications satellite reached outer space in just over nine minutes and is orbiting, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch from Pyongyang.
"The satellite is transmitting the melodies 'Song of Gen Kim Il Sung' and 'Song of Gen Kim Jong Il' as well as measurement data back to Earth," it said, referring to the country's late founder and his son, its current leader.
Sunday's move was a bold act of defiance against Obama, Japanese leader Taro Aso, Hu Jintao of China and others who pressed Pyongyang in the days leading up to liftoff to cancel a launch they said would threaten peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
"North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint and further isolated itself from the community of nations," Obama said in Prague, urging Pyongyang to honour the UN resolutions and to refrain from further "provocative" actions.
China, Pyongyang's biggest source of economic aid and diplomatic support, urged all sides to maintain calm and exercise restraint. It offered to play a "constructive role," though some fear it could use its veto power to block a unified response to the launch at the Security Council.
North Korea says the launch of the "Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite was a peaceful bid to develop its space programme.
But the US, South Korea, Japan and others suspect the launch was a guise for testing the regime's long-range missile technology - a worrying step toward eventually mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.
They contend it violates a UN Security Council resolution barring the regime from ballistic missile activity, part of efforts to force North Korea to shelve its nuclear programme and halt long-range missile tests.
State Department spokesman Fred Lash called the launch a clear violation of Resolution 1718, adopted five days after North Korea carried out a nuclear weapons test in 2006. The U.S. will "take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it cannot threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity," he said in Washington after the launch.
Japan's UN mission immediately requested a meeting of the 15-nation council Sunday, spokesman Yutaka Arima said. Mexico, which holds the 15-nation council's president this month, set the meeting for 3 pm EDT (1900 GMT), spokesman Marco Morales said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he regretted North Korea's move "against strong international appeal" at a time when nuclear disarmament talks involving six nations remain stalled.
"Given the volatility in the region, as well as a stalemate in interaction among the concerned parties, such a launch is not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability," Ban said in a statement from Paris.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council approved an emergency session Sunday to deal with North Korea's rocket launch.
That approval came after Japan submitted a formal letter requested an emergency session of the United Nations council that handles threats to international peace and security.
"We received a letter and there will be a meeting," Morales said.
Yutaka Arima, a spokesman for Japan's UN mission, said his nation asked for the meeting within minutes of the launch.