Seoul: North Korea pushing forward with rocket launch plans

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un uses binoculars as he inspects a civil police post in this undated photo released by released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on July 15.

The warnings came a day after the North announced a February 8-25 window for the launch, ostensibly aimed at putting an earth observation satellite into orbit.

With the recent announced plan of North Korea to launch a satellite this month – most likely for space warfare – the United States, Japan, and South Korea are in the same quandary on what to do. The Foreign Ministry has also mentioned possible consequences should the country defy the global call to stop the rocket launch. Japan’s NHK television, citing diplomatic sources it did not identify, reported that it has been “confirmed that a mobile launch pad in North Korea’s eastern coastal area was on the move”.

The United States said the planned launch would be a provocation and that it is continuing to work with the worldwide community to weigh its actions following a North Korean nuclear test last month.

Meanwhile, concerning cooperation with China, which has influence on North Korea, a senior Foreign Ministry official said, “We will call on the Chinese government directly”.

The missile test poses potentially a greater threat to the Philippines than Japan as the second stage of the three-stage rocked is projected to land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Luzon island.

So far, China’s entirely state-controlled media has provided only limited coverage of the North’s announcement and remained mum on Wu’s mission, possibly to limit the effect on public opinion that has grown increasingly critical of Pyongyang. China’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Wu Dawei arrived quietly in Pyongyang on Tuesday to discuss the nuclear issue with officials of Kim Jong Un’s government. The launch is widely considered a disguised test of ballistic missile technology.

Moon said there has been little change in how the US responds to North Korea because there is a lack of a clear policy about “what to do with North Korea”.

South Korean and USA officials said a launch would threaten regional security and violate U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the North from engaging in any nuclear and ballistic activities. South Korea has warned the North that it will “pay a harsh price” if it goes ahead with the launch. “It also comes on the heels, as you know, of the January 6th nuclear test, which is itself an egregious violation of UN Security Council resolutions”. The country is irked by joint military maneuvers by South Korea and the U.S. and views them as direct threats against its security.

Kang said China was “willing to maintain communication and co-ordination with each party…to play a constructive role in safeguarding and promoting the stability and development of the peninsula and the local region”.