North Korea Brings Rocket Launch Forward

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 supremo Kim Jong-Un.

An official from the Korea Meteorological Administration, South Korea’s weather agency, said that rain or snow was expected in the North Korean region where the launch pad is located on Monday, Thursday and next Saturday.

North Korea has started injecting fuel into its long-range missile and is on the brink of a launch, according to a Pentagon official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But it is barred under U.N. Security Council resolutions from using ballistic missile technology.

The areas where debris would fall remain unchanged.

The White House said Obama and Xi underscored the importance of “a strong and united worldwide response” to North Korean provocations, including an “impactful” resolution.

North Korea has brought forward a time frame for the launch of a rocket that it says will carry an earth observation satellite, to begin on Sunday, the Japanese and South Korean governments said on Saturday.

Predictions of an imminent launch have been bolstered by recent satellite images of fuel tankers at the Sohae satellite launch complex in northwestern North Korea.

The two leaders said they would also co-ordinate efforts to respond to North Korea’s purported hydrogen bomb test last month.

The United States proposed at the Security Council banning oil exports to North Korea and imports of minerals from it as part of a package of new economic sanctions, which China is opposed to.

The institute said, however, that the imagery suggests there have been no significant changes at the launch control building at the site.

North Korea says it has a sovereign right to pursue a space program.

The USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, arrived on Friday in Otaru, Japan, one of five US destroyers equipped with Aegis ballistic missile defence systems that are girding for the potential launch, according to several sources.

38 North said: “In the past, such activity has occurred one to two weeks prior to a launch event and would be consistent with North Korea’s announced launch window”.