Pentagon Confirms North Korea Launched Satellite into Orbit

The North insists its space programme is purely scientific in nature but the US, South Korea and even Pyongyang’s ally China say the rocket launches are aimed at developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.

Park and US President Barack Obama “agreed to closely cooperate to make sure that the Security Council can adopt a resolution for strong and effective sanctions on North Korea”, Cheong Wa Dae said of Park’s telephone conversation with Obama. “We’re committed to the security of South Korea and that is exactly what this technology is meant to address”. The UNSC said the latest rocket launch by the North a day earlier was in violation of its previous resolutions.

Analysts have said that the technology required to launch a rocket is essentially identical to that needed to fire a long-range ballistic missile.

He set forth an analysis of the recent North Korean test: the three-stage rocket successfully separated all of its three stages before placing the satellite “Kwangmyongsong-4” into orbit.

However, North Korea this time is believed to have had the first stage of Sunday’s rocket blow up into around 270 pieces to cover up its technical footprint, he said.

The UN has vowed to impose further sanctions as punishment.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Pyongyang is acting against the norms of worldwide law.

Sunday’s rocket launch triggered a wave of global condemnation and prompted strong reaction from an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

A USA defense official told CNN that plans to implement the missile defense system had been accelerated in response to the launch, and it could potentially be deployed within weeks.

These developments indicate that prospects for North Korea to “address security and humanitarian concerns of the worldwide community as expressed in the resolutions are increasingly remote”, said the report.

He said the Pentagon will, in light of this, begin “formal consultations” with South Korea over improvements to their own missile defense systems, Fox News reported.

South Korea on Sunday strongly denounced the DPRK 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.

Later, at a joint press conference with Wang in Beijing, Kerry pointed out that the sanctions against Iran, which did not have a nuclear weapon, were “more significant and impactful” than those now imposed on North Korea, which does have nuclear weapons.

Beijing also worries that a wholesale collapse of the regime in Pyongyang could lead to a US-allied unified Korea right on its doorstep.

While North Korea is actively pressing on with its banned programs and flouting sanctions, United Nations member states are showing little interest in enforcing the measures.