US responses to NKorea nuke, missile tests will upset China

The satellite launched on Saturday by North Korea is “tumbling in orbit” around 300 miles above earth, USA officials told CBS News.

He set forth an analysis of the recent North Korean test: the three-stage rocket successfully separated all of its three stages before placing the satellite “Kwangmyongsong-4” into orbit.

North Korea is also presumed to be in possession of a projectile with a range of as much as 12,000 kilometers – able to reach the east coast of the U.S. – Yonhap said, citing the ministry. “This is an authoritarian regime”.

North Korean nuclear and rocket tests are drawing quick responses from the USA that will upset a supposed partner against Pyongyang’s weapons development – China.

In the latest launch, North Korea is believed to have blown up the rocket’s first stage into about 270 pieces in a bid to cover up its technological footprint, the official said.

The launch, though not totally unexpected, made front-page news and was denounced by Kim’s regional neighbours, particularly Japan and South Korea, as well as the USA, which has troops stationed in South Korea and is committed to defend that country’s sovereignty.

The United States said the launch represents “another destabilizing and provocative action” and is “a flagrant violation” of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Cook said that the North’s rocket launch succeeded in putting a satellite into orbit.

In its editorial on Feb 9, The Yomiuri Shimbun says Pyongyang’s reckless conducts pose a serious challenge to the worldwide order.

Alison Evans, senior analyst for Asia-Pacific at IHS Country Risk, said that Pyongyang had likely calculated that by carrying out the rocket launch so soon after the January 6 nuclear test – before the global community had responded to the latter with new sanctions – it might face less severe repercussions than if the launch and test were responded to individually.

Still, the legislation would elevate the stakes, as the US and China, which fought on oppose sides in the 1950-53 Korean War, grapple with a North Korea which appears impervious to diplomatic pressure and intent on building a bigger nuclear arsenal.

Notwithstanding past efforts by South Korea to persuade North Korean leaders to moderate their bellicose and erratic actions, it’s precisely such unpredictable actions and provocations – including blowing up a South Korean airliner – that have been used over the years by the Kim dynasty to entrench power.

Moreover, the United States and South Korea have begun negotiations on the deployment of Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system to the Korean peninsula in response to Pyongyang launch on Sunday, the Pentagon said separately on Monday.

While the Council has condemned the launch, Pyongyang is also yet to be punished for its claimed hydrogen bomb test last month, despite being barred under United Nations resolutions from using ballistic missile technology.

Beijing was reluctant to support impositions on the North’s banking system for fear of worsening conditions in its impoverished neighbour, the diplomat said.

North Korea has gone ahead with launching a long-range ballistic missile under the pretext of orbiting what it described as a “satellite”.

In November, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said that Japan was considering the deployment of THAAD to counter any potential strike from North Korea, although Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday that the country had no plan at the moment to introduce the system. Meanwhile, the North upped the ante further with the satellite launch, which the US and its allies see as a façade for ballistic missile testing.