North Korea positions rocket for April liftoff

[David]

AP


SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea has mounted a rocket on a launchpad on its northeast coast, American officials said, putting Pyongyang well on track for a launch the U.S. and South Korea warned Thursday would be a major provocation with serious consequences.

Pyongyang says the rocket will carry a satellite, but regional powers suspect the North will use the launch to test the delivery technology for a long-range missile capable of striking Alaska. They have said the launch — banned by the U.N. Security Council in 2006 — would trigger sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned such a "provocative act" could jeopardize the stalled talks on supplying North Korea with aid and other concessions in exchange for dismantling its nuclear program.

"We intend to raise this violation of the Security Council resolution, if it goes forward, in the U.N.," Clinton said Wednesday in Mexico City. "This provocative action in violation of the U.N. mandate will not go unnoticed, and there will be consequences."

North Korea responded Thursday by threatening "strong steps" if the Security Council criticizes the launch. Any challenge to its bid to send the satellite into space would mean an immediate end to nuclear disarmament talks, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

The statement did not specify what action the North would take.

North Korea had declared last month that it was making "brisk headway" in preparations to send its Kwangmyongsong-2 communications satellite into space, and notified aviation and maritime authorities of a time frame for the launch: April 4-8, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Commercial satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe has revealed steady progress toward a launch, with a flurry of activity at the Musudan-ni site in late February and an open hatch and crane hovering above the launchpad two weeks ago, Jane's Intelligence Review editor Christian Le Miere said. After mounting the rocket, scientists would need a number of days to conduct tests and to fuel the projectile, he said.

U.S. spy satellites spotted the rocket two days ago, South Korean reports said — the first indication that the countdown toward a launch has begun. Counterterrorism and intelligence officials in Washington confirmed that a rocket was in position.

North Korea is now "technically" capable of launching it in three to four days, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unnamed diplomatic official.

However, South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities have not yet determined whether the rocket is intended to carry a satellite or a missile because the top is concealed, the Yonhap news agency said, citing an unnamed South Korean government official.

The government said Thursday it could not confirm reports the rocket was in place. But Seoul urged the North to cancel the launch, warning that the move would threaten regional stability and draw international sanctions.

"If North Korea pushes ahead with the launch by ignoring repeated warning by our government and the international community, that would be a serious challenge and provocation on security on the Korean peninsula and regional stability in Northeast Asia," Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters.

Seoul will take the matter to the Security Council whether it's a satellite or a missile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.

North Korea's bid to send a satellite comes at a time of mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula, with Pyongyang lashing out over South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's tough policy toward the North.

Seoul's decision to hold routine military drills with U.S. troops drew a threat from Pyongyang against South Korean airliners flying over North Korean airspace. North Korea also cut off the only military communications hot line connecting the two Koreas during the 12-day exercises, and repeatedly shut down its border crossing.

Pyongyang is also at odds with Washington over nuclear disarmament, and is holding two American journalists they accuse of crossing into the country illegally from China last week.

Analysts say Pyongyang, angling to get President Barack Obama's attention, may use the journalists — Lisa Ling and Euna Lee of former Vice President Al Gore's online media outlet Current TV — to push for direct talks with Washington, a prime goal of leader Kim Jong Il.

"North Korea appears to be judging that the issue of the two U.S. journalists could serve as a very good occasion in opening up negotiations with the U.S. on its missile and nuclear programs in the future," said analyst Paik Hak-soon of the private Sejong Institute.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang urged restraint, saying he hoped all parties would "do things to contribute to peace and stability on the peninsula."

U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said earlier this month that indications suggest North Korea will launch a satellite.

However, Tokyo, spooked by a rocket launch a decade ago and North Korea's attempt to shoot a long-range missile in 2006, is reportedly planning to deploy an Aegis radar-equipped destroyer carrying a missile interceptor, Yonhap said. South Korea will also dispatch a destroyer to monitor the launch, the newspaper said. Four U.S. and Japanese Aegis ships already are in place.

U.S. military officials at Misawa Air Base across the Sea of Japan from North Korea say they are closely monitoring activities.

[1CAVCCO15MED]

That is the sound of Kim Jung Ill's brain ricocheting in his skull.

[39mto39g]

NK launches that thing and Japan shoots it down. Japs don't like Koreans North or south.
My concern would be for the 30,000 Americans that are on The Korean DMZ. It don't take a rocket to set off a Nuke. Just a truck and leave it at the border. The way the Dems want to talk everyone to death instead being prepared, It wouldn't surprise me to see North Korea 1/2 way threw South Korea before Our military got any kind of OK from the Dem congress to send help to our military.

Ron

[1CAVCCO15MED]

By firing it North Korea will show what it can do and by shooting it down Japan will show what it can do. It's going to happen.

[Boats]

This (NK) country is the most radical and insecure country in that area. China may back them up every now and then - but if push came to shove - China would take them out.

It depends on what fell onto what? Iran is watching all this as they are also very near to pushing the buttons to see how far they can get.

This world is very unstable and everyone is chomping at the bit to get into another shooting war. Iraq and Afganistan and now Pakistan are warm to hot. They are being manipulated and influenced by many supporters who want this to continue. I swear the Arab's are involved and more than we know or would say.

Arms sales are up and everyone is making money hand over fist selling the devices that will allow the little guy to make waves. Many people are dying for reasons I don't think all of them really understand.

These are deadly games they are all playing. Our forces are battling a variety of folks from many different nations - and no one wears a uniform any more - so it makes it very difficult to know friend from foe.

I'm for pulling back or out altogether as its a no-win scenario and too many players are investing into these elements to prolong the fighting. They have nothing to loose and everything to gain by taking out our folks.

The games a foot as Holm's would say. I feel bad for the folks who really would like peace but their pier's won't let them. Mexico's drug situation is out of control - big time. Many millions of dollars of drugs and weapons move across our border's daily.

They have nothing to loose - no work - no money - no food so why not take up the gun and take what you want. I would if I was in that position. If I had to feed my family or get them medical attention and had no monies I'd have to turn to crime (knowing) I would end up with a premature dirt nap in the short run.

When people are pushed to extremes they have no recourse. The have's and have not's are showing up more and more. They system is so divided that many have become vindictive to those who've taken away their livelyhood or who would hurt them or their families.

Think about it - what would you do?

[39mto39g]

We, The American Navy, have 17 war ships stationed off the coast of Korea, All ships are capable of shooting down a missile. Looks like it wont be Japan that shoots the POS Korean missile out of the sky.
Personally. I'd shoot the thing while it's still on the launching pad, Just cause I can. Kim, Bad boy, Bad Boy, Watch ya gona do.
Then I just might send a few Fire works over their cities, Real fireworks Made in China. Woooo, Ahhhh. Just cause I can.

Ron

[David]

AP


SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea has begun fueling a long-range rocket for an impending launch, a news report said Thursday, as President Barack Obama warned the liftoff would be a "provocative act" that would generate a U.N. Security Council response.

North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit on a multistage rocket sometime from Saturday to Wednesday. The U.S., South Korea and Japan think the reclusive country is using the launch to test long-range missile technology; they've warned the move would violate a Security Council resolution banning the North from ballistic activity.

Regional powers have also begun to deploy ships to monitor the launch, and Japan is preparing to intercept any debris that might fall if the launch goes awry — moves that have prompted several threats of retaliation from Pyongyang, including one Thursday.

CNN television said on its Web site that Pyongyang has started to fuel the rocket. The report, citing an unidentified senior U.S. military official, said the move indicates final preparations for the launch. Experts say the missile can be fired about three to four days after fueling begins.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the U.S. and Japanese governments have not confirmed that fueling has begun. South Korea's Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report.

Obama denounced the planned launch as "a provocative act" and a breach of the U.N. resolution while speaking with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London on Wednesday, according to the White House Web site.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the North to reconsider the launch, saying: "There will obviously be consequences if they do proceed with this."

The North countered with its own warnings against any efforts to intercept the rocket, take the issue to the Security Council or even monitor the launch. It says its armed forces are at a high level of combat-readiness.

The North has said debris from the rocket could fall off Japan's northern coast, so Tokyo has deployed battleships with anti-missile systems to the area and set up Patriot missile interceptors. It says it has no intention of trying to shoot down the rocket itself.

"If Japan imprudently carries out an act of intercepting our peaceful satellite, our people's army will hand a thunderbolt of fire to not only interceptor means already deployed, but also key targets," said a report Thursday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency that quoted the general staff of its military.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted unidentified officials as saying the North had moved a squadron of MiG-23 figher jets to a base near the launch site in what appeared to be a response to Japan's deployment. Seoul's Defense Ministry declined to confirm the reports.

KCNA also made a veiled threat against the U.S. In an apparent reference to American warships that have reportedly set sail to monitor the launch, the Korean-language version of the report said: "The United States should immediately withdraw armed forces deployed if it does not want to receive damage."

An English version said the U.S. forces could be hit in a retaliatory strike against Japan.

On Wednesday, the North threatened to shoot down any spy planes that intrude into its airspace.

The rocket issue is expected to be a key topic at Obama's talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday. Lee has sought to drum up support from world leaders in London for punishing its neighbor if the launch goes forward.

In Washington, U.S. lawmakers are urging Obama to shoot down the rocket if it endangers the United States or its allies. But U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a TV interview aired Sunday that the U.S. had no plans to intercept the rocket though it might consider it if an "aberrant missile" were headed to Hawaii "or something like that."






This satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows a missile on the launchpad at Musudan-ni, North Korea formally know as Taepo-dong missle launch facility. The image was collected Sunday March 29, 2009.

[MORTARDUDE]

I do not know why this is a big deal. We have enough intel to know if the fool would launch a nuclear weapon. His country would be vaporized before it landed.

Isn't the "in your face looting and bankrupting" of our country more important ?

Larry

[39mto39g]

With so much gloom and Doom from The Dems and OBama, It's kinda nice just to think of something else for 5min.
I don't think I would target the thing after all. But I do believe a cruse missile to take out Kim would be in order. Just a thought.

Ron

[David]

AP


SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea fired a rocket over Japan on Sunday, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect the launch was cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. President Barack Obama said the move threatens the security of nations "near and far."

Liftoff took place at 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean and U.S. 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 Earth, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said from Pyongyang.

"The satellite is transmitting the melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans '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.

But the U.S. military said "no object entered orbit." North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials said in a statement that the first stage of the rocket fell into the waters between Korea and Japan, while the two other stages, and its payload, landed in the Pacific Ocean.

The launch was a bold act of defiance against Obama, Japanese leader Taro Aso, Hu Jintao of China and others who pressed North Korea in the days leading up to liftoff to cancel a move they said would threaten peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

The U.N. Security Council approved an emergency session for Sunday afternoon in New York.

"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 the North to refrain from further "provocative" actions.

He said the move was a clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, which prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind, and demands an international response.

"North Korea broke the rules once more by testing a rocket that could be used for a long range missile," Obama said. "This provocation underscores the need for action — not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons."

In Tokyo, Aso said the launch was "an extremely provocative act that cannot be overlooked."

China, North Korea'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 say it could use its veto power to block a unified response to the launch at the Security Council.

Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, also called for calm. "We urge all states concerned to show restraint in judgments and action in the current situation, and to be guided by objective data on the nature of North Korea's launch," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

North Korea says the launch of the "Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite was a peaceful bid to develop its space program.

But the U.S., South Korea, Japan and others suspect the launch was a guise for testing the regime's long-range missile technology — a step toward eventually mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.

They contend it violates Resolution 1718, part of efforts to force North Korea to shelve its nuclear program and halt long-range missile tests. The European Union also "strongly" condemned the launch.

Japan's U.N. mission immediately requested a meeting of the 15-nation council, spokesman Yutaka Arima said. Mexico, which holds the 15-nation council's presidency this month, set the meeting for 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), spokesman Marco Morales said.

U.N. 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.

At the United Nations, diplomats have begun discussing ways to affirm existing sanctions on North Korea. Envoys said permanent council members U.S., Britain and France are unlikely to secure agreement on new sanctions from veto holders Russia and China. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

North Korea, which says its participation in a U.N. space treaty protects its right to send a satellite into orbit, took pains to alert international maritime and aviation authorities of the rocket's flight path, in marked contrast to 2006, when it carried out a surprise launch.

"Even if a satellite was launched, we see this as a ballistic missile test," Japan's chief Cabinet spokesman Takeo Kawamura said.

Japan had threatened to shoot down any debris from the rocket if the launch went wrong, and positioned batteries of interceptor missiles on its coast and radar-equipped ships in its northern seas to monitor the liftoff. Russia also scrambled fighter jets to monitor the launch, while U.S. and South Korea sent warships to nearby waters, reports said.

No attempt at interception was made because no debris fell onto its territory, Japan's Defense Ministry said.

However, Japan threatened to add more bilateral sanctions onto those it imposed after the July 2006 launch of a similar Taepodong-2 long-range missile that fizzled 42 seconds after takeoff.

South Korea, which technically remains at war with the North because their three-year conflict ended in 1953 in a truce rather than a peace treaty, put its forces on heightened alert.

North Korea, one of the world's poorest nations, is led with absolute authority by leader Kim Jong Il, who is poised to preside over the first session of the country's new parliament on Thursday. The appearance will be his first major public appearance since reportedly suffering a stroke last August.

Amid the controversy over the rocket launch, North Korea announced last week it would put two American reporters detained at the border with China on trial for allegedly entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts."

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture, were seized by North Korean soldiers on March 17.