North Korea rocket launch may spur US missile defence buildup in Asia

North Korea said the launch of its satellite Kwangmyongsong-4, named after late leader Kim Jong Il, was a “complete success” and that it was making a polar orbit of the earth every 94 minutes.

“We welcomed the Security Council’s vow to “expeditiously adopt a new resolution” against North Korea”, an official at Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

North Korea had notified United Nations agencies that it planned to launch a rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite, triggering opposition from governments that see it as a long-range missile test.

US and South Korean defense analysts believe Pyongyang is attempting to miniaturize a nuclear warhead that can be mounted on a long-range rocket, but most believe the North is still a ways from perfecting such technology.

China is North Korea’s main ally, although it disapproves of its nuclear weapons program.

“While we won’t discuss employment of our military assets, no one should doubt that U.S. Pacific Command forces, specifically U.S. Forces Korea, are prepared to protect the American homeland and defend our allies in South Korea, Japan, and the region”.

The Jan. 6 nuclear test led to another push at the United Nations to tighten sanctions.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters that “it can not be business as usual” after two successive North Korean acts that are “hostile and illegal”.

In North Korea, the launch was met with praise, with the National Aerospace Development Administration, describing “the fascinating vapour of Juche satellite trailing in the clear and blue sky”.

Recent commercial satellite imagery analyzed by US researchers showed tanker trucks at the launch pad at North Korea’s Sohae facility, which likely indicates the filling of fuel and oxidizer tanks in preparation for the launch. But it is barred under UN Security Council resolutions from using ballistic missile technology.

The UN Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned the launch using ballistic missile technology by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday, said a press statement of the council. US Pacific Command in Hawaii said it had “detected and tracked today what we assess was a North Korean missile”, and at no time did it pose a threat to the United States or its allies.

Sunday’s rocket took off at around 9am Pyongyang time from the North’s west coast, according to South Korea’s defence ministry.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon). South Koreans watch a TV news program with a file footage about North Korea’s rocket launch at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016.

The launch, which violated multiple United Nations resolutions, amounted to the North doubling down against an global community already struggling to punish Pyongyang for its nuclear test barely a month ago.

South Korean and USA defense officials said Sunday they would begin formal talks on the deployment on the Korean peninsula of a US missile defense system to counter the growing threat from North Korea. South Koreans have always been lukewarm about United States insistence on the need to deploy multibillion-dollar missile launchers capable of shooting down enemy missiles hurtling more than 100 miles overhead.

The Foreign Secretary warned that North Korea’s nuclear ambitions present a “threat to regional and worldwide security”. Based on coordinates provided by North Korea to the IMO, the first stage and fairing of the rocket will drop off in waters between South Korea and China.