North Korea launches a long-range rocket

 

Breaking News

North Korea launches a long-range rocket

U.S., other nations condemn North Korean launch of long-range rocket

By Ralph Ellis, K.J. Kwon, Joshua Berlinger, and Tiffany Ap, CNN

Updated 12:24 AM ET, Sun February 7, 2016 | Video Source: CNN

Story highlights

• North Korea says it has successfully launched a satellite into space
• U.S. defense official said the rocket does not pose threat to U.S. or its allies
• U.S., Japan and South Korea seek meeting of U.N. Security Council

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)North Korea has successfully launched a satellite into space, its state-run TV said, an action immediately condemned by the United States as "destabilizing and provocative."

Carrier rocket Kwangmyongsong blasted off from the Sohae Space Center at 9 a.m, state news agency KCNA confirmed.

The satellite entered orbit nine minutes and 46 seconds after the liftoff, it said.

Though North Korea said the launch was for scientific, "peaceful purposes" and it plans to launch more satellites, it was viewed by other nations, such as Japan and South Korea, as a front for a ballistic missile test, especially coming on the heels of North Korea's hydrogen bomb test last month.

North Korea: Satellite launch or missile test? 02:12

A senior U.S. defense official said the rocket headed toward space and, based on its trajectory towards the Yellow Sea, "did not pose a threat to the U.S. or our allies."

The United States, Japan and South Korea have called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on Sunday, a senior U.S. official told CNN. The South Korean national security council held an emergency meeting in response to the launch, the South Korean President's office said.

'A major provocation'

The U.S., South Korean, Japanese and Chinese governments immediately criticized the rocket launch.

"This is the second time in just over a month that the DPRK has chosen to conduct a major provocation, threatening not only the security of the Korean peninsula, but that of the region and the United States as well," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said, "North Korea's launch using ballistic missile technology, following so closely after its January 6 nuclear test, represents yet another destabilizing and provocative action and is a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions."

South Korean President Park Geun-hye called the launch a "challenge to world peace." She said in a televised address that South Korean officials "don't know when North Korea is going to do another provocative action, so our government needs to come up with a plan to protect the safety of our people."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said "this is totally unacceptable." Echoing that it was a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolutions, he promised to "resolutely take measures, acting in cooperation with the international community."

Japan's analysis of the launch indicated parts the rocket fell into four locations offshore after takeoff, the Japanese Prime Minister's office said Sunday via Twitter.

One location is 150 kilometers west of the Korean peninsula in the Yellow Sea, two other locations are southwest of the Korean peninsula in the East China Sea and a fourth location is about 2,000 kilometers south of Japan in the Pacific Ocean, according to the Prime Minister's office.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, "China expresses regret that DPRK, in spite of the pervasive opposition of the international community, insisted on using ballistic missile technology to carry out a launch."

An editorial published on Xinhua, China's state-run news agency said: "Regardless of its true nature, the launch marks a negative development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula as it has sparked extensive world anxiety and concern, and may lead to more sanctions."

Airlines altered flight paths

The U.S. Forces in South Korea issued a statement saying, "We are aware of North Korea's rocket launch and are closely monitoring the situation. We continue to call on North Korea to refrain from irresponsible provocations."

"While we won't discuss employment of our military assets, no one should doubt that U.S. Pacific Command forces, specifically U.S. Forces Korea, are prepared to protect the American homeland and defend our allies in South Korea, Japan, and the region."

Officials for the International Maritime Organization and the International Telecommunications Union each told CNN that North Korea informed their respective organizations that it intended to launch a satellite.

Japanese and South Korean airlines altered flight paths to avoid possible falling rocket parts. Based on coordinates provided by North Korea to the IMO, the first stage and fairing of the rocket will drop off in waters between South Korea and China. Its second stage is expected to fall into waters off the Philippines' northern coast.

Satellite... or nuclear missile?

At present, North Korea is believed to have one satellite in orbit, the Kwangmyongsong 3-2, though doubts have been raised about whether it is functioning.

While Pyongyang claims that its space program is entirely peaceful, many international observers think the true purpose is military. U.S. officials have said the same type of rocket used to launch the satellite could deliver a nuclear warhead.

China, the Soviet Union and the United States have all used intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, to launch satellites in the past. During the Cold War era of the 1950s, ICBMs were used by both the United States and the Soviet Union as warhead delivery systems, as well as in the early development of both countries' space programs.

The Unha rocket used to launch North Korea's last satellite is believed to be based upon the Taepodong long-range ballistic missile, which has an estimated range of around 5,600 miles (9,000 km).

That would put Australia, much of Western Europe, and the U.S. West Coast in range of a North Korean warhead.

According to multiple experts, North Korea has at least a dozen and perhaps as many as 100 nuclear weapons, though at present it lacks sophisticated delivery mechanisms.

Official: N. Korea possibly tested H-bomb components 02:00

North Korea tested hydrogen bomb

According to a 2015 report on Pyongyang's space program by 38 North, testing rockets through satellite launches would provide invaluable data for potential future ICBMs.

"Even failed satellite launches would be a learning experience," wrote aerospace engineer John Schilling.

Schilling said that a key sign to look out for in future North Korean satellite launches would be attempts to test an advanced re-entry vehicle, vital for an effective ICBM.

A month ago North Korea said it carried out a hydrogen bomb test -- a claim that was viewed skeptically by most of the international community.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had urged North Korea to "refrain" from the launch and said his cabinet was working closely with the United States and South Korea to gather information and prepare a potential response.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang had expressed "deep concern" over the launch.

"We hope (North Korea) will exercise restraint and caution in its actions. It should not act in a way that may escalate tensions on the peninsula," Lu said Wednesday.

North Korea had not given a specific time for the rocket launch, saying it could be launched between Sunday and February 14.

Increased pressure on China

The launch will heighten international pressure on China, North Korea's biggest foreign investor, to do more.

Wary of creating a refugee crisis should Kim's regime collapse, however, it has been unwilling to implement sanctions that would really put a choke in North Korea's economy.

"Sanctions are definitely not the aim," the Xinhua editorial published Sunday said. It did, however, note that foreign minister Wang Yi would "continue to exercise strategic composure and play a constructive role in helping seek a solution to the peninsular conundrum."

Sanctions have been limited to technology, luxury goods and military equipment, but trade is going on largely unimpeded.

Chinese companies helped supply the equipment for the world-class Masikryong Ski Resort in North Korea, which opened in 2013, according to The New York Times. Chinese customs data showed that North Korea imported $2.09 billion in luxury goods between 2012 and 2014, including Mercedes Benz cars and luxury yachts.

It stands at odds with stronger measures the United States and South Korea are pushing for.

"The only route to have North Korea give up its nuclear program is by having North Korea voluntarily abandon its nuclear (development) by coming up with effective and strong U.N. Security Council sanction, South Korean presidential security adviser Cho Tae-yong said after the launch.

Kerry, when meeting with Chinese officials last month, said, "With all due respect, more significant and impactful sanctions were put in place against Iran, which did not have a nuclear weapon, than against North Korea, which does."

CNN's Elise Labott, James Griffiths, Barbara Starr, Paula Hancocks, Jason Hanna, Jamie Crawford, Yoko Wakatsuki, Junko Ogura, Don Melvin, Brian Walker, and Steven Jiang contributed to this report

end quote from:

North Korea launches a long-range rocket