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North Korea Rocket Launch Raises Nuclear Concerns

February 07, 2016

North Korea launched a long-range rocket into space early on February 7, raising nuclear concerns in neighboring countries and in Washington.

North Korea's state television said the launch -- ordered by leader Kim Jong Un to put a 'satellite' in space -- was a "complete success."

It said a North Korean satellite called Kwangmyongson-4 is now orbiting the earth every 94 minutes, and that the North would continue to launch satellites in the future.

South Korean and U.S. military officials have said the launch was a cover for testing a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead – a test that is banned by multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the launch "deeply deplorable" and said the rocket used ballistic missile technology.

Ban said North Korea must stop "provocative actions" and reaffirmed what he called "a commitment to working with all sides in reducing tensions and achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.'

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council -- at the request of the United States, South Korea, and Japan -- has schedule an emergency closed-door meeting on February 7 to discuss the possibility of more UN sanctions.

The launch follows North Korea's claim in January that it tested a hydrogen bomb.

Condemnation was swift, with Washington calling the launch 'destabilizing' and provocative, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described it as 'absolutely intolerable.'

China's foreign ministry said it 'expresses regret' about North Korea's 'insistence on implementing a launch of missile technology in the face of international opposition.'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry responded to news of the launch by reaffirming Washington's defense commitment to Japan and South Korea.

Kerry said the United States will work with the UN Security Council on "significant measures" to hold Pyongyang accountable for violating UN resolutions.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Strategic Command said that its systems had detected and tracked what it believed to be a North Korean missile launch into space.

In a statement, the U.S. Strategic Command said defense officials tracked the launch in southern trajectory from North Korea over the Yellow Sea.

It said the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, "determined that at no time was the missile a threat to North America.'

Japan's national broadcaster, NHK, broke into its normal programming to quote a Japanese government statement that said the rocket passed over the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

Japanese television broadcasts showed U.S.-supplied Patriot missile defenses on Okinawa poised to shoot down any debris from the launch that might fall on populated areas of Japan.

But authorities in Tokyo said no defense missiles were fired.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, BBC, CNN, NHK, and Yonhap

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/north-korea-rocket- launch-nuclear-concerns/27536603.html

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

North Korea Rocket Launch Raises Nuclear Concerns