South Korea warns North Korea not to launch satellite

“Depending on how deliberations between North Korea and China go, the North’s plans to launch a long-range rocket could be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations”, said one former senior South Korean official.

Pyongyang has announced it will launch a satellite-bearing rocket sometime between February 8-25, which is around the time of the birthday on February 16 of late leader Kim Jong-Il, father of current leader Kim Jong-Un, reports AFP.

Other nations in the region counter that a rocket is virtually identical to a long-range ballistic missile and is an example of the dual-use technology that United Nations resolutions specifically ban North Korea from testing.

South Korea and Japan vowed to shoot down any debris that falls on their territories from a long-range rocket that North Korea plans to fire this month, with Seoul yesterday saying it has detected launch preparations by Pyongyang.

The announcement was internationally condemned – critics say it is a cover to test banned missile technology.

China, which had voted in favor of United Nations sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear tests, should keep its “balanced approach to prevent the collapse of the North Korean economy, while imposing sanctions against North Korea”, the editorial reads.

US Navy officials have not given a reason for the Lorenzen’s docking at Sasebo.

Russian Federation further called on North Korea to resume dialog over its nuclear program and other issues.

These concealment upgrades include “the construction of an underground railway right up to the launch pad that allows rocket stages to be transported stealthily to the site, possibly from Pyongyang”.

Pyongyang’s defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons is forcing countries in northeast Asia to either support crippling sanctions or ultimately recognize North Korea as a nuclear state.

Still, China’s patience with North Korea’s snubs and provocations has its limits, said Jin Linbo, a Korea expert at the China Institute of International Studies.

North Korea has been increasingly isolated in this particular issue. Russia urges North not to escalate tensions Meanwhile in Moscow, Russia urged North Korea to avoid escalating tensions with an announced rocket launch, expressing “grave concern” over the plan.

A South Korean official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules, said Seoul estimated that the first stage of the rocket would fall off the west coast of South Korea, more debris would land near the South’s Jeju Island, and the second stage would land off the Philippines’ east coast.

In Tokyo, defense minister Gen Nakatani has ordered missile defense units – including a fleet of Aegis destroyers – to the Sea of Japan.

North Korea last launched a long-range rocket in December, 2012, sending what it described as a communications satellite into orbit. This means there is considerable debate about whether it can produce nuclear bombs small enough to place on a missile, or missiles that can reliably deliver their bombs to faraway targets.