Japan’s parliament condemns North Korea rocket launch

U.S. President Barack Obama said the launch is another example of North Korea’s behavior that violates previously passed U.N. Security Council resolutions.

China is in “unique position” as North Korea’s neighbor and ally to compel it to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, the official said.

In another development, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be in Hawaii, home to U.S. Pacific Command, to discuss North Korea’s launch with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts this week.

THE UN Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned North Korea’s long-range rocket launch at an emergency meeting here and vowed to impose fresh sanctions in response to “these risky and serious violations”.

A metal object believed to be a part of North Korean long range rocket launched Sunday is seen in this undated handout picture provided by South Korean Defense Ministry and released Tuesday by Yonhap news agency.

Both China and Britain summoned North Korea’s ambassadors to their capitals protest the launch, their governments said.

China, North Korea’s diplomatic and economic lifeline, has resisted calls to hand down crippling economic sanctions on North Korea following its latest nuclear test.

South Korean news service Newsis reported several North Korean officials gave commemorative speeches. But Beijing has been reluctant to back measures that would take aim at North Korea’s already weak economy. “The second stage lands far enough out at sea that it is probably not recoverable, so they wouldn’t need to worry so much about that”.

The mild sanctions underscore Tokyo’s fear that a strong reaction would damage its fragile hopes of resolving the abduction issue, experts said.

The North Korean rocket launch has been denigrated by the USA and its allies as another step in its quest to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the American mainland.

Cook said an eventual THAAD deployment would be operated by USA forces in South Korea.

Signals from the new satellite are yet to be detected, according to CBS, and it is unclear what the satellite is supposed to be using or what it will be detecting.

The Foreign Ministry in China expressed “regret that, disregarding the opposition from the global community, the (North) side obstinately insisted in carrying out a launch by using ballistic missile technologies”.

From North Korea’s perspective, blowing up some of the evidence makes sense.