North Korea satellite unsteady in orbit, USA officials say

North Korea’s satellite passed over the Super Bowl stadium an hour after the contest ended, becoming the second satellite that North Korea has successfully fired into orbit, but there is no evidence that these satellites are risky, or anything more than part of North Korea’s elaborate attempts to make them seem more unsafe than they are.

Admiral Harry Harris, commander of US Pacific Command, and General Curtis Scaparrotti, US Forces Korea commander, will also participate, said one of the officials. There are also reports that North Korea is developing and testing Anthrax on its own citizens.

Intelligence officials in Japan, the United States and South Korea believed those trucks were put in place to guard against a possible fire when fuel was being pumped through underground pipes.

But the North has managed to circumvent those measures in pursuing a rocket program, widely suspected to be aimed at building an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could threaten the continental United States, and its fourth nuclear test last month. Meanwhile, South Korea confirmed that the satellite has been successfully launched into orbit, but could not verify if it is functioning.

While the nuclear question remains unanswered, the US and South Korea formally acknowledged Sunday they are engaging in talks to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile defense system in South Korea in response to the rocket launch.

Consequently, North Korea has become adept at taking advantage of the dual-use nature of space technology, meaning technology with both civil and military utility, mixed with sometimes nonsensical propaganda, to develop long-range ballistic missiles.

Seoul’s concern is of “rogue attacks” from North Korea, said Okumura, but Beijing’s worry is the deployment of advanced USA weapons systems close to its borders, and what it senses as South Korea backing away from the burgeoning friendship and returning to the embrace of Washington, which has guaranteed its security since 1945 and, most notably, during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Pyongyang called its January nuclear blast a successful test of a hydrogen bomb, proof that North Korea was now “equipped with the most powerful nuclear deterrent”.

Years after North Korea first agreed to shut down its nuclear weapons program, even as it quietly built it up, Pyongyang no longer makes a secret of its ambitions.

Based on the number of freight cars and trucks, intelligence officials believed that parts for two upgraded Taepondong-2 ballistic missiles were transported to the launch site.

Press TV: Let’s not forget that Pyongyang has always said that its missile capabilities, missile tests, etc. are all direct reactions to the US and South Korea’s military exercises that take place year after year which are basically seen by Pyongyang as preparation for an invasion. The regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had announced the return to production operations in September of 2015.

Recovered debris pieces were being analyzed, South Korea said. South Korea, especially, has been forced in the past to provide food aid and other assistance in an effort to persuade North Korea to moderate its hard-line policies and provocations.

The test-firing was “largely successful” because the rocket was reportedly able to send an object into Earth orbit, he said.

South Korea on Sunday strongly denounced North Korea’s launch, describing it as an “extreme provocative act” that runs counter to the global community’s wish for peace, according to a statement issued by the South Korean presidential office. Indeed, experts said Sunday’s rocket was likely bigger than those of previous tests.