N. Korea blames US for stalled nuclear dialogue

Under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, North Korea is widely considered to be the worst country in which to be a Christian. Sohae is the North’s main rocket site on the country’s west coast.

Although commentators are anxious about an impending launch, 38 North claims that no signs of launch preparations have been detected so far.

Subsequently, Army General Ri Yong-gil, Chief of the General Staff of the North’s military, said the peninsula is on the brink of another conflict like the Korean War. “As a nuclear state, we have our own interests in a nuclear program”, Ji said.

Such preparations would include transferring equipment, filling oxidiser and fuel storage tanks, and political leaders arriving at the site to observe a launch.

The anniversary brought a festive atmosphere to the capital, with citizens using the holiday not only to show their patriotic pride by laying flowers before statues of North Korea’s first president Kim Illinois Sung and his son, Kim Jong Illinois, but also to enjoy the warm summer weather at parks and ice cream stands. Kim was quoted by state media saying that Pyongyang would launch satellites into space as and when it sees fit.

The date the competition was held remains unconfirmed, South Korean outlet Newsis reported on Thursday, but was to commemorate North Korea’s “Victory Day”, or the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea can now set up a long-range rocket at its Sohae launch tower, after preparing its stages and payload at a new support building, said 38 North, a Johns Hopkins University website, in an e-mailed report, citing commercial satellite images.

Any rocket launch would nearly certainly be viewed by the global community as a disguised ballistic missile test and result in the imposition of fresh sanctions.

When asked Tuesday about a possible test, North Korea United Nations Ambassador Jang Illinois Han told reporters that he could not rule out the possibility. The failed Agreed Framework was also an global accord – and one that was just as controversial with Congress – but it did not sufficiently account for North Korea’s ability to develop nuclear material through highly enriched uranium. North Korea said today that stalled dialogue over its nuclear programme was down to aggressive US military exercises and accused Washington of seeking to shift blame onto Pyongyang.

North Korea, which insisted the launch was purely scientific in nature, responded three months later by conducting its third nuclear test the most powerful to date.