North Korea preparing long-range missile launch

It also seems to be aimed at putting a stop to pressure from the South Korean and American governments on China to play a bigger role.

Cobra combat helicopters, the Marine Corps’ rigid inflatable boats and armored vehicles also joined the simulation drills based on a scenario of North Korea’s attacks on those frontline islands. In this sense, the DPRK slapped the relevant country across the face.

China, which dispatched a top official to North Korea this week, echoed the worldwide concerns while Japan has vowed to shoot down any missile that threatened its territory.

Ri Yong-ho, who was purged in July 2012, said earlier that launching a satellite amounts to firing a rocket, effectively acknowledging that the North’s rocket launch is a covert test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s state-run broadcaster KBS.

North Korea has used its nuclear tests to make progress on the miniaturization of a warhead.

United Nations sanctions prohibit North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, and such a launch would amount to another major violation of Security Council resolutions following Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test on Jan 6.

The report claimed that “a mobile launch pad in North Korea’s eastern coastal area was on the move”.

IMO spokesperson Natasha Brown has said North Korea’s notification describes the rocket’s payload as an observation satellite called Kwangmyongsong, or Lodestar.

The Navy simultaneously conducted similar drills in the waters off the country’s east and west coasts, involving some 20 warships and 10 combat airplanes.

If the launch goes as planned, the rocket’s first stage will fall off the west coast of South Korea.

Tokyo and Seoul have expressed outrage over Pyongyang’s plans. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quite right to demand that North Korea refrain from going through with the launch, saying, “This would constitute a violation of these resolutions and represent a serious provocation to Japan’s security”. The country’s defense forces have likewise arrayed Patriot missile batteries onshore to shoot down any North Korean rocket that threatens Japan. North Korea announces it will launch a long-range rocket smack in the middle of a top Chinese envoy’s visit to Pyongyang.

South Korea’s presidential official Cho Tae-young warned on Tuesday of “searing consequences” for the North should it push through with the launch.

Wu arrives while North Korea is said to be preparing celebrations for Kim Jong-il’s birthday on February 16, which will be followed by a large gathering of the ruling Worker’s Party in May.