China urges restraint over N. Korea rocket launch

Rockets launched during an exercise in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on July 15. China already appears to be dragging its feet on a response to North Korea’s purported first H-bomb test on January 6.

Although Beijing has supported those measures, it points to North Korea’s continuing nuclear tests and missile launches as proof of their ineffectiveness.

SEOUL/TOKYO International pressure grew on North Korea to call off a planned rocket launch, seen by some governments as another missile test, while Japan put its military on alert to shoot down any rocket that threatens its territory.

General Nakatani, Japanese Defence Minister, ordered the national Self Defence Force to shoot down any missiles to land in or fly over Japanese territorial waters.

South Korea called on the North to “withdraw its plan” for the satellite launch”, warning it would “pay a harsh price if it proceeded.

Moscow’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the North Korean ambassador and had issued an “urgent appeal to refrain from actions that could further escalate tensions in the region”.

North Korea has informed global organizations that it will launch an observation satellite aboard a rocket between February 8 and 25.

It comes just weeks after North Korea claimed it successfully tested a Hydrogen bomb – which it says can wipe out America in one go.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon). South Koreans watch a TV news program with a file footage about North Korea’s rocket launch plans, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said they discussed “bilateral relations and the current situation on the Korean Peninsula” without elaborating.

Japan has issued a similar “destroy” order for any North Korean projectile that infringes on its territory.

The rogue state announced plans to blast a satellite into space this month, according a South Korea news agency. This is because China has opposed US attempts to impose tough sanctions, including an embargo on shipments of fuel to North Korea.

Officials from South Korea and the United States said North Korea’s plan to launch a satellite would cause menace on the regional security and would breach United Nations Security Council resolutions that forbid the country from engaging in any ballistic activities.

“The only way to stop North Korea’s misjudgment is to make North Korea realize that it can not survive unless it abandons its nuclear program”, Park insisted.

The visit marks Wu’s first trip to Pyongyang in almost two years, and the envoy had met with Ri Su Yong, North Korea’s foreign minister, Kim Gye Kwan, first vice foreign minister, and Ri Yong Ho, North Korea’s chief representative to the six-party talks.