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SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea told international aviation authorities that it would launch a satellite in early April, firing a rocket that can also be used to deliver a warhead as far as the American mainland, according to the North's official media.
The notification was the latest in a series of warnings and signals North Korea has given in recent weeks about such a launch. This time, Pyongyang said it gave notice to the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization to "ensure the safety of flights and sea vessels," the North's state-run Korea Central News Agency said Thursday.
The report did not say when the launch would take place. But South Korea's national news agency Yonhap, quoting unnamed government sources, said North Korea told the international organizations that the launching, deemed by Washington as "very unhelpful," will take place between April 4 and 8.
On Feb. 24, North Korea announced that it planned to put its Kwangmyongsong-2, or Lodestar-2, satellite into orbit aboard its Eunha-2 rocket. But U.S. and South Korean officials believe that the launching will be a cover for testing the North's Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile. Others have suggested that the North Korean actions may be a tactic to pressure the nascent Obama administration in its dealings with Pyongyang.
[Above] The Kwangmyongsong-2 being launched in 1998
Whether the rocket is a rocket for a missile or satellite, the technology is the same, officials and experts said. Thus a successful launching of the rocket would demonstrate the North's missile prowess to a region that has grown increasingly uneasy over its long-range and nuclear threats.
The North tested its first nuclear bomb in 2006 and has since stalled international talks aimed at ending its nuclear programs.
American officials are braced for a launch.
"The North Koreans announced that they were going to do a space launch, and I believe that that's what they intend," National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
Blair said the technology North Korea uses for its space launch vehicle "is indistinguishable from intercontinental ballistic missiles."
"And if a three-stage space launch vehicle works, then that could reach not only Alaska, Hawaii but also part of what the Hawaiians call 'the Mainland' and what the Alaskans call 'the Lower 48,'" he said.
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/12/asia/12north.php
Brought to you by Balkan-MiG
The notification was the latest in a series of warnings and signals North Korea has given in recent weeks about such a launch. This time, Pyongyang said it gave notice to the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization to "ensure the safety of flights and sea vessels," the North's state-run Korea Central News Agency said Thursday.
The report did not say when the launch would take place. But South Korea's national news agency Yonhap, quoting unnamed government sources, said North Korea told the international organizations that the launching, deemed by Washington as "very unhelpful," will take place between April 4 and 8.
On Feb. 24, North Korea announced that it planned to put its Kwangmyongsong-2, or Lodestar-2, satellite into orbit aboard its Eunha-2 rocket. But U.S. and South Korean officials believe that the launching will be a cover for testing the North's Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile. Others have suggested that the North Korean actions may be a tactic to pressure the nascent Obama administration in its dealings with Pyongyang.
[Above] The Kwangmyongsong-2 being launched in 1998
Whether the rocket is a rocket for a missile or satellite, the technology is the same, officials and experts said. Thus a successful launching of the rocket would demonstrate the North's missile prowess to a region that has grown increasingly uneasy over its long-range and nuclear threats.
The North tested its first nuclear bomb in 2006 and has since stalled international talks aimed at ending its nuclear programs.
American officials are braced for a launch.
"The North Koreans announced that they were going to do a space launch, and I believe that that's what they intend," National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
Blair said the technology North Korea uses for its space launch vehicle "is indistinguishable from intercontinental ballistic missiles."
"And if a three-stage space launch vehicle works, then that could reach not only Alaska, Hawaii but also part of what the Hawaiians call 'the Mainland' and what the Alaskans call 'the Lower 48,'" he said.
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/12/asia/12north.php
Brought to you by Balkan-MiG
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